American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 481,719 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.12% of Yum China worth $14,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Yum China during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum China by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Yum China during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Yum China by 3,107.1% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 898 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeff Kuai purchased 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Joey Wat bought 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.98 per share, for a total transaction of $129,124.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,274,637.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC stock opened at $35.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.50 and a twelve month high of $58.21. The firm has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.34.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Yum China’s payout ratio is 32.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Macquarie raised Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.18.

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.