KBC Group NV Sells 185,057 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 59.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185,057 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Yum China were worth $6,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum China by 27.4% during the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 255,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,523,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position 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 worth $189,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270,560 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth $2,177,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Yum China by 100.2% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 17,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Yum China by 64.3% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total transaction of $302,716.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $47.59 on Friday. 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 $52.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.69.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.32%.

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.