M&G Plc Boosts Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

M&G Plc lifted its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 1,290.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,727 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 137,101 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Yum China were worth $6,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in Yum China by 53.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Yum China by 906.5% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC stock opened at $49.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.22 and its 200 day moving average is $36.84. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at $407,849.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Yum China news, CEO Joey Wat acquired 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.98 per share, for a total transaction of $129,124.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 272,944 shares in the company, valued at $9,274,637.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.74 per share, for a total transaction of $101,220.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,849.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.