Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,450 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,296 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $1,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum China by 2.6% during the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its position in Yum China by 2.5% during the first quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 8,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its position in Yum China by 1.1% during the second quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 21,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in Yum China by 1.6% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 15,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Yum China by 116.8% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Stock Down 0.1 %

YUMC stock opened at $38.59 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.45. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.55 and a 12 month high of $64.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on YUMC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Yum China in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price (down from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.65.

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.