Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 23,804 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 959,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,804 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.23% of Yum China worth $40,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 140.0% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 250,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,187,000 after buying an additional 146,410 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Yum China by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 21,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in Yum China by 7.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 12,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth approximately $418,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Yum China by 5.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 407,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,934,000 after purchasing an additional 20,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUMC. HSBC reduced their price target on Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.65.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC opened at $37.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.45. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.55 and a fifty-two week high of $64.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.55.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. Yum China’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a positive change 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 1.73%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

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.