Waverton Investment Management Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 350.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Yum China makes up about 3.1% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd owned about 1.09% of Yum China worth $189,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 12,223,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,391,000 after buying an additional 3,389,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,967,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,073,000 after buying an additional 121,617 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after buying an additional 1,582,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,552,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,939,000 after buying an additional 11,535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on YUMC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Warton Wang acquired 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,547.41. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Joey Wat acquired 3,800 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.98 per share, for a total transaction of $129,124.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 272,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,274,637.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Warton Wang acquired 3,700 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 25,023 shares in the company, valued at $867,547.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 14,500 shares of company stock worth $492,063. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $49.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.89. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.