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

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) was the target of a large decline in short interest during 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. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Yum China Price Performance

Yum China stock opened at $49.10 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.51. Yum China has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. Yum China’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 286.9% in the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 55,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after acquiring an additional 41,508 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the second quarter worth about $537,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the second quarter valued at about $265,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 351,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,826,000 after buying an additional 5,906 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.