StockNews.com Downgrades Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) to Hold

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

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Yum China Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE YUMC opened at $49.56 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. 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.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum China

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Yum China by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 3,672 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 2nd quarter valued at $353,000. Stableford Capital II LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 26,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 4,516 shares during the period. Finally, Lind Value II ApS purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,246,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.