Yum China targets new cities

Article Excerpt

YUM CHINA HOLDINGS INC. $37 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (New York symbol YUMC; Consumer Sector; Shares outstanding: 416.9 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.yumchina.com) is China’s largest fast-food operator with over 14,000 outlets, mainly under the KFC and Pizza Hut banners. The stock is down 13% since the start of 2024 due to China’s slowing economic growth. However, the company still plans to expand by 2026 to 20,000 outlets, mainly in 1,100 cities where it does not yet operate. Those new outlets should lift its systemwide sales by 8% to 12% annually over the next three years. As well, its earnings in 2024 will probably rise about 12% to $2.15 a share. The stock trades at a moderate 17.2 times that forecast. The $0.52 dividend yields 1.4%. Yum China is a buy. buy…