Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook of Yum China Q1 Earnings

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Yum China in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 26th. Zacks Research analyst H. Ray now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.78 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.79. The consensus estimate for Yum China's current full-year earnings is $2.54 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yum China's Q3 2025 earnings at $0.77 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.51 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.94 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.31 EPS.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Remove Ads

Yum China Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.83. The stock had a trading volume of 758,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,529,930. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. Yum China has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The firm has a market cap of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum China by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock worth $356,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609,494 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company's stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Yum China by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 975,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,523,000 after buying an additional 76,406 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Yum China by 10.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 60,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,719,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum China in the third quarter worth $258,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.