Yum China Holdings, Inc.'s (NYSE:YUMC) Recent Stock Performance Looks Decent- Can Strong Fundamentals Be the Reason?

Most readers would already know that Yum China Holdings' (NYSE:YUMC) stock increased by 9.2% over the past three months. Given its impressive performance, we decided to study the company's key financial indicators as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Yum China Holdings' ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for Yum China Holdings

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Yum China Holdings is:

12% = US$746m ÷ US$6.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.12.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of Yum China Holdings' Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

To start with, Yum China Holdings' ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 7.1%. This certainly adds some context to Yum China Holdings' decent 12% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Yum China Holdings' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 3.6% in the same period, which is great to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Yum China Holdings fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Yum China Holdings Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Yum China Holdings has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 26% (or a retention ratio of 74%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Moreover, Yum China Holdings is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of three years of paying a dividend. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 24%. However, Yum China Holdings' ROE is predicted to rise to 15% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Yum China Holdings' performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. On studying current analyst estimates, we found that analysts expect the company to continue its recent growth streak. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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