Barings LLC Grows Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Barings LLC raised its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 536,787 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,739 shares during the period. Yum China makes up 0.6% of Barings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Barings LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $25,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $500,841,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531,518 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 350.7% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $179,556,000 after buying an additional 2,980,589 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $161,576,000 after buying an additional 3,505,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,942,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,492,000 after buying an additional 1,120,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total value of $1,851,796.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $49.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35. 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 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.67 and its 200 day moving average is $44.76.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Yum China’s payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.