Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on June 18th

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share on Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th.

Yum China has increased its dividend by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Yum China has a dividend payout ratio of 33.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Yum China to earn $2.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.1%.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock opened at $42.67 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.42 and a 200-day moving average of $47.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. Yum China has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Yum China’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUMC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Yum China stock. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,289 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Yum China were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.