Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 11,450 Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Yum China in the first quarter valued at $26,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 3,107.1% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Yum China during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, BOCHK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of YUMC opened at $33.55 on Monday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $58.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.42. The stock has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.33.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.67 per share, for a total transaction of $128,279.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,547.41. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jeff Kuai acquired 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.72 per share, with a total value of $127,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,608. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Warton Wang bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $34.67 per share, with a total value of $128,279.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,547.41. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 18,400 shares of company stock valued at $619,671 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Macquarie raised Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum China presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.20.

Yum China Company 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.