Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $16.99 Million Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 43.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274,900 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $16,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YUMC. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $243,901,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Yum China by 4,176.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,588,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Yum China by 399.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,727,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,589 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum China by 49.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth $68,638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Down 0.5 %

Yum China stock opened at $52.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. 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 fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.01.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. 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 Analyst Weigh In

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 Activity at Yum China

In related news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.