Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Yum China $YUMC

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,548,456 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,247 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.42% of Yum China worth $69,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in Yum China by 4,915.4% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 652 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 95.6% in the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Yum China in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUMC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. CLSA reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Yum China in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Yum China Price Performance

Yum China stock opened at $47.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.81. Yum China has a 12-month low of $41.00 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The stock has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.18.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Yum China’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 5,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $248,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,896. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.