Daiwa America Upgrades Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) to “Strong-Buy”

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Daiwa America to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum China has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $44.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.58.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. On average, research analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. This trade represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 1st quarter worth approximately $902,000. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 7.0% during the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 15,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. 626 Financial LLC bought a new stake in Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in Yum China during the 1st quarter worth about $2,863,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently 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.