Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

Yum China Price Performance

NYSE:YUMC opened at $47.99 on Friday. Yum China has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $52.00. The company has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.53.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Yum China by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,841,000 after buying an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at $243,901,000. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Yum China by 399.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,589 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Yum China by 4,176.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Company Profile

Yum China Holdings, Inc owns, operates, and franchises restaurants in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through KFC, Pizza Hut, and All Other segments. It operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Lavazza, Little Sheep, and Huang Ji Huang concepts. The company also operates V-Gold Mall, a mobile e-commerce platform to sell products; and offers online food deliver services.