Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Holdings Cut by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 46.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 798 shares of the company’s stock after selling 692 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Yum China were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,120,054 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the third quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth approximately $239,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in Yum China in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,177,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,450,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Stock Down 2.0 %

YUMC opened at $48.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.92 and its 200-day moving average is $38.79. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.50 and a one year high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Yum China’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China’s payout ratio is 28.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 16,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.