Stifel Financial Corp Decreases Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 34.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,039 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,364 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Yum China were worth $1,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in Yum China during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 17,898 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Yum China by 171.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,574 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Yum China Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $48.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

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.