Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Insider Jeff Kuai Sells 3,900 Shares

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yum China Stock Up 0.2 %

Yum China stock opened at $49.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.30. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China in the third quarter valued at about $281,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 22.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,446,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,119,000 after purchasing an additional 260,493 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the third quarter worth about $280,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 906.5% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the third quarter worth about $21,173,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on YUMC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

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.