Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CEO Joey Wat Sells 37,252 Shares of Stock

Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Yum China Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:YUMC opened at $49.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.57. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.20%.

Institutional Trading of Yum China

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at $46,445,000. RedJay Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at $6,021,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Yum China by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 588,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,351,000 after buying an additional 13,215 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter valued at $6,486,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Yum China by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 758,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,545,000 after buying an additional 97,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.