Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Shares Bought by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,735 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $84,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at about $243,901,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth approximately $199,722,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4,176.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,576,000 after buying an additional 3,505,053 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 399.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,556,000 after buying an additional 2,980,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 49.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC opened at $52.97 on Wednesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The stock has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.98. 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 (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.