Gateway Advisory LLC Boosts Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,810 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yum China by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 3,107.1% during the 4th 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. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $36.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.34. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $57.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $33.74 per share, for a total transaction of $101,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,849.12. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CTO Leila Zhang acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.36 per share, with a total value of $133,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 41,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,379,069.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 12,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,849.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.