Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Yum China Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.69. The company has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the third quarter valued at $2,177,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after buying an additional 8,101 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at $322,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at $809,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 8.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 975,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,523,000 after buying an additional 76,406 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently 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.