Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Stock Holdings Lowered by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 681,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86,542 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Yum China were worth $32,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in 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 during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum China by 138.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,969,073 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at about $243,901,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Yum China by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,751,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,890,000 after buying an additional 2,570,419 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,580,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on YUMC. Daiwa America raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUMC opened at $41.33 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.79 and a 200-day moving average of $47.49. The company has a market capitalization of $15.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

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.