Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $500.84 Million Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,531,518 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.74% of Yum China worth $500,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 258 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Yum China by 906.5% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Yum China by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $103,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC opened at $49.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.91 and a 200 day moving average of $43.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Insider Activity at Yum China

In other Yum China news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.