Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 6th

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. 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.

Yum China has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. Yum China has a payout ratio of 33.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Yum China to earn $2.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.1%.

Yum China Stock Down 0.8 %

Yum China stock opened at $49.02 on Tuesday. Yum China has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $46.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUMC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.