Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,936 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,936 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $357,000 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 company. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 3,107.1% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,608. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,547.41. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of YUMC opened at $34.90 on Wednesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $58.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.41. The company has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.34.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Yum China’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.20.

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.