Bayforest Capital Ltd Makes New Investment in Yum China $YUMC

Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Yum China by 29.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,985,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,709,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485,735 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,244,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,723,000 after buying an additional 200,938 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,102,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,150,000 after buying an additional 3,704,756 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 6,304.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,526,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,045,000 after buying an additional 11,346,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Yum China by 1.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,185,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,887,000 after buying an additional 56,288 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum China has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC opened at $43.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.11 and a 200-day moving average of $44.92. Yum China has a 52-week low of $41.00 and a 52-week high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. Yum China had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 8.04%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 39.67%.

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.