Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,154 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,344 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,154 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $693,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum China by 788.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,628,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $787,029,000 after purchasing an additional 14,757,971 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,441,000. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 8,088.2% in the first quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,212,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173,249 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Yum China by 21.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,759,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Yum China by 23.3% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,847,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,088,000 after acquiring an additional 916,418 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Down 0.3 %

Yum China stock opened at $36.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.45. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.55 and a 1-year high of $64.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.58.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.12. Yum China had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 7.53%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is 32.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on YUMC shares. HSBC lowered their target price on Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.65.

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.