Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Gap Up to $36.35

Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $36.35, but opened at $38.80. Yum China shares last traded at $38.71, with a volume of 314,783 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.18.

Yum China Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai acquired 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,608. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Leila Zhang acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 41,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,379,069.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the 2nd quarter worth $945,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its position in Yum China by 2.4% during the second quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 240,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,420,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Yum China by 7.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 12,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $904,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Yum China by 181.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 14,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 9,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.