GAMMA Investing LLC Takes Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 197,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,367,000 after acquiring an additional 9,180 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth $571,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 65,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 533.3% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC lowered their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.65.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock opened at $40.04 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.62. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.55 and a 12 month high of $64.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.12. Yum China had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given 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 was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.