First Trust Advisors LP Invests $475,000 in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 9,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum China by 689.6% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUMC. StockNews.com downgraded Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum China presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Yum China Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $44.15 on Friday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Yum China’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Yum China 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.