Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on YUMC. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum China presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.68.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,494,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,158,798. Yum China has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.55. The company has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Yum China news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yum China by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,859 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 171.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,574 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.