Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) Position Lowered by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 835,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,507 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.22% of Yum China worth $40,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth $10,086,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,804,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,023,000 after buying an additional 79,048 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at about $944,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC stock opened at $44.80 on Wednesday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.00. The company has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.24. 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 (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share 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 $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 28.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on YUMC. Citigroup raised Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.57.

Insider Activity at Yum China

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

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.