AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Acquires Shares of 14,017 Yum China $YUMC

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 2nd quarter worth $3,749,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Yum China by 720.1% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 27,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 24,202 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Yum China by 355.1% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,001,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,280,000 after purchasing an additional 781,117 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Yum China during the second quarter worth about $805,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock opened at $43.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.03 and a 200-day moving average of $44.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 12 month low of $41.00 and a 12 month high of $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.18.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

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.