National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 1,352.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 479,196 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 446,194 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.12% of Yum China worth $20,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUMC. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Yum China by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,766,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,825,000 after purchasing an additional 433,411 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Yum China by 237.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 559,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,203,000 after purchasing an additional 393,881 shares in the last quarter. Broad Peak Investment Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Yum China by 24.5% in the third quarter. Broad Peak Investment Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,743,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,127,000 after buying an additional 343,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,819,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,682,000 after buying an additional 337,033 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $37.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.06. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.55 and a 52 week high of $62.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 7.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.65.

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.