Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 49,780 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 48.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,780 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Yum China were worth $7,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Yum China by 917.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 79,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,825,000 after acquiring an additional 71,600 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum China by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Yum China by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum China by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Yum China by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 547,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,262,000 after acquiring an additional 39,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.57.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of YUMC opened at $46.62 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $52.00. The company has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.47%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.