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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $46.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.35. Yum China has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.94 and its 200 day moving average is $41.35. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum China by 43.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Yum China by 1.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Yum China by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.