LGT Group Foundation Makes New $1.65 Million Investment in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

LGT Group Foundation acquired a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 34,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at $682,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Yum China by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 13,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Yum China by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 31,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 9,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $49.02 on Tuesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, 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 value of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.57.

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.