Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 337,473 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,010 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Yum China were worth $15,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Yum China by 25.6% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 18,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,505,053 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Yum China by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,518,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,359,000 after buying an additional 408,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Yum China during the third quarter worth $1,979,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $46.78 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The company has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.39 and a 200-day moving average of $37.61.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Yum China’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Five equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.68.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% 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.