Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys Shares of 5,077 Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 27.4% during the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 255,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,523,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Yum China by 350.7% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Yum China by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 17,898 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in Yum China in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,177,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 171.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,574 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum China currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $49.69 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Yum China’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

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.