Longbow Finance SA Takes Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Longbow Finance SA bought a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 188,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,078,000. Yum China accounts for about 1.0% of Longbow Finance SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum China by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Yum China by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Yum China by 540.0% during the 3rd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUMC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $46.82 on Tuesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Yum China 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.