Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 305.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280,094 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211,090 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.07% of Yum China worth $13,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum China by 43.9% during the 3rd 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at about $296,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,650,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC opened at $51.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $52.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.24.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. This trade represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

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.