Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Gap Up to $45.35

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $45.35, but opened at $47.16. Yum China shares last traded at $47.19, with a volume of 757,630 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Yum China Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.71 and its 200-day moving average is $35.22.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.74 per share, for a total transaction of $101,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,849.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum China news, insider Warton Wang acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,547.41. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at $407,849.12. 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 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 53.7% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Yum China by 140.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.