Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $45.52, but opened at $48.99. Yum China shares last traded at $48.65, with a volume of 182,736 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUMC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum China

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum China by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Yum China by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by 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.