Nomura Holdings Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 240.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,192 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,957 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in YUMC. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Yum China by 3,107.1% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 898 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, HSBC lowered their price objective on Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.65.

Yum China Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:YUMC opened at $33.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.78. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.27 and a 52 week high of $61.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 7.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Yum China Company 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.