Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.68.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Yum China by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 8,109 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth about $203,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,828,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at about $284,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Yum China by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 65,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,963,000 after buying an additional 13,024 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $47.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $52.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.15.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

About Yum China

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.