Warton Wang Sells 8,187 Shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Stock

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) insider Warton Wang sold 8,187 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total value of $395,268.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,261,773.16. The trade was a 14.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC stock opened at $48.28 on Thursday. Yum China has a 1 year low of $41.00 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.86.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum China’s payout ratio is 39.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 21.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,150,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,303,326,000 after buying an additional 5,164,701 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum China by 14.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,169,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,687,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,480 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,545,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $680,252,000 after acquiring an additional 158,607 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Yum China by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,871,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,509,000 after acquiring an additional 677,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,851,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,171,000 after purchasing an additional 539,531 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. CLSA reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Yum China in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

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.