Altman Advisors Inc. Makes New $1.76 Million Investment in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Altman Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 36,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $500,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,531,518 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 138.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,241,000 after buying an additional 4,969,073 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $243,901,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Yum China by 117.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,751,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,890,000 after buying an additional 2,570,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Yum China by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,580,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238,720 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $44.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.58.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on YUMC. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

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.