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

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. 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 traded.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Yum China Trading Down 2.6 %

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

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its 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 return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum China news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 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. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Yum China by 906.5% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 56.9% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum China in the third quarter worth about $103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

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.