Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Trading 6.6% Higher

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)’s share price shot up 6.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.80 and last traded at $50.46. 6,677,546 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 108% from the average session volume of 3,212,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on YUMC. Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Macquarie upgraded shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.18.

Yum China Price Performance

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’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Warton Wang purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,547.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at $127,608. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,547.41. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum China by 4.4% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Yum China by 1.2% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 25,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Yum China by 12.1% in the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yum China by 14.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.