Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 255,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,523,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Yum China by 350.7% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,202,000 after buying an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in Yum China during the third quarter worth about $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Yum China by 100.2% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 17,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 64.3% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum China has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC opened at $47.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.83 and a 200 day moving average of $41.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.32%.

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.