Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $53.31 and last traded at $53.18, with a volume of 1068135 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Yum China Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.41.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,901,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 138.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,969,073 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,179,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $199,722,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 399.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,589 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.