Moors & Cabot Inc. Invests $228,000 in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in Yum China by 53.7% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Yum China during the first quarter worth $36,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum China by 43.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum China by 906.5% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Yum China stock opened at $47.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.92 and its 200-day moving average is $37.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $52.00.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Yum China’s payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Macquarie raised Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.68.

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.