Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,927,991 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 56,979 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Yum China were worth $92,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum China by 689.6% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum China by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Yum China Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $46.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $53.99. The company has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,634,474.25. This trade represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.