Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Macquarie raised Yum China from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum China has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $46.18.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC opened at $47.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.24. Yum China has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 7.61%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Yum China’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other Yum China news, CTO Leila Zhang bought 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.36 per share, with a total value of $133,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 41,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,379,069.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CTO Leila Zhang bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $33.36 per share, for a total transaction of $133,440.00. Following the purchase, the chief technology officer now directly owns 41,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,379,069.04. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum China

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum China by 53.7% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.