Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 48.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 153,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,780 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Yum China were worth $7,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Yum China by 917.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 79,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,825,000 after acquiring an additional 71,600 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Yum China by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Yum China by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Yum China by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its position in Yum China by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 547,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,262,000 after acquiring an additional 39,972 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on YUMC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research 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.com, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $46.62 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $52.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 27.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.