Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Short Interest Down 22.8% in December

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,590,000 shares, a decline of 22.8% from the November 30th total of 13,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 906.5% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 140.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in Yum China by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of YUMC traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $49.10. 992,344 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,122,186. The company has a market capitalization of $18.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.59.

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

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

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.