Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $60.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $35.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 24.07% from the stock’s current price.

YUMC has been the topic of several other reports. Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.68.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $48.36. 2,993,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,253,692. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.48. Yum China has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $51.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum China will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other news, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares in the company, valued at $867,547.41. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai acquired 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,608. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,547.41. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum China

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 43.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 906.5% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum China by 53.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during 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.