Waverton Investment Management Ltd Purchases 316,513 Shares of Yum China $YUMC

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,312,378 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 316,513 shares during the quarter. Yum China makes up about 2.7% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Yum China were worth $192,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 26.7% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 0.5% during the first quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 50,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 4.7% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 5.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 12.3% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Yum China Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $43.87 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.66. Yum China has a fifty-two week low of $41.00 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Yum China’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.83%.

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.