Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 5,681 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,116 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,681 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Yum China by 237.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 559,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,203,000 after buying an additional 393,881 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,655,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Yum China by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,766,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,825,000 after purchasing an additional 433,411 shares during the last quarter. XY Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Yum China by 1,325.8% during the 3rd quarter. XY Capital Ltd now owns 107,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,998,000 after purchasing an additional 100,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Yum China by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 369,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,657,000 after purchasing an additional 54,958 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on YUMC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Yum China in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. HSBC cut their target price on Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down previously from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.65.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC opened at $37.34 on Monday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.55 and a twelve month high of $64.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.88. The company has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

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.