Insider Selling: Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CEO Sells 37,252 Shares of Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Yum China Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $50.41 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.66 and a 200-day moving average of $44.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The firm has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 EPS 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 anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Yum China by 350.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,202,000 after buying an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Yum China by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after buying an additional 17,898 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Yum China by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,510,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,017,000 after purchasing an additional 441,252 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Yum China by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 8,101 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.