Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,970,000 shares, a decline of 18.2% from the March 15th total of 10,960,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE YUMC traded down $0.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.55. 1,477,923 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,967,851. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUMC. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Insider Activity

In other Yum China news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in Yum China by 689.6% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors 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.