Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Decreases Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. cut its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 43.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 158,938 shares of the company’s stock after selling 124,455 shares during the quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $7,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Yum China by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 987,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,302,000 after buying an additional 286,307 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 255,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,523,000 after acquiring an additional 55,000 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Yum China by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 127,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,081,000 after acquiring an additional 16,981 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 266,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,585,000 after acquiring an additional 36,660 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,767,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,972,201. The company has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.14.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.68.

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.