Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lowered its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,195 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,927 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its holdings in Yum China by 38.4% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 12,223,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Yum China by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,967,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,073,000 after acquiring an additional 121,617 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in Yum China by 56.3% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Yum China by 0.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,552,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,939,000 after acquiring an additional 11,535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at $127,608. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Warton Wang acquired 3,700 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares in the company, valued at $867,547.41. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai acquired 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of Yum China stock traded down $2.15 on Friday, reaching $49.31. 2,433,096 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,194,609. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.83. The firm has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. 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 results 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 return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

Yum China 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.