Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Stock Holdings Increased by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP lifted its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 20.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,356 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Yum China were worth $2,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 43.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 4.4% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Yum China by 1.2% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 25,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 12.1% during the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum China by 53.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.74 per share, for a total transaction of $101,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,849.12. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at $127,608. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $407,849.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC stock traded down $2.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.31. 2,433,096 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,194,609. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Yum China’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Yum China’s payout ratio is 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.