Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,681,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,168,571. Yum China has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.00. 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 $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.94 and its 200-day moving average is $41.28.

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

Insider Activity

In other Yum China news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum China

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. FMR LLC increased its stake in Yum China by 4,176.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 350.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum China by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hhlr Advisors LTD. acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,977,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.