Brokerages Set Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) PT at $48.70

Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Strong Buy" from the four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.70.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on YUMC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $43.93. 2,342,205 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,918,821. 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 has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. Yum China has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.02.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Yum China's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Yum China in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth approximately $5,185,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 13.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,289 shares of the company's stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,582 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 4.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,547,543 shares of the company's stock worth $184,685,000 after acquiring an additional 142,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dean Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.2% during the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 27,278 shares of the company's stock worth $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is 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.