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

Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) reached 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Yum China Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $7,903,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $46,445,000. RedJay Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $6,021,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Yum China by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 588,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,351,000 after purchasing an additional 13,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $6,486,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.