Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 975,425 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,406 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $45,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUMC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Yum China by 1.2% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 25,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum China by 2.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 12.1% in the second quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on YUMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. The trade was a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE YUMC opened at $46.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $52.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Yum China’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

Yum China Company 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.