Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Receives $48.70 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Strong Buy" by the four brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.70.

YUMC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company's stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in Yum China by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company's stock worth $2,751,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Yum China by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,054 shares of the company's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC traded down $2.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.50. 3,434,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,945,892. Yum China has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Yum China's payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.