Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,846 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,502 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Yum China were worth $3,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake 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 valued at $189,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 61.4% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,492,000 after buying an additional 1,120,054 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Yum China by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,510,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,017,000 after buying an additional 441,252 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $49.40 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. 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.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Equities analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

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.