Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $46.59, but opened at $45.01. Yum China shares last traded at $44.96, with a volume of 372,560 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on YUMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Yum China Trading Down 3.6 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. 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 earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Yum China’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum China

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum China by 27.4% during the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 255,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,523,000 after acquiring an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Yum China by 350.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the third quarter valued at about $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Yum China by 100.2% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 17,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,574 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently 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.