River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP Cuts Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP reduced its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC – Get Rating) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,660 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the period. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Yum China were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Yum China by 156.5% during the third quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. 78.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC opened at $60.98 on Friday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.05 and a twelve month high of $63.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.08, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.93.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 6.09%. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 6th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joey Wat sold 12,018 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total value of $745,356.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 261,905 shares in the company, valued at $16,243,348.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Johnson Huang sold 10,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $663,834.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,302,616. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 12,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total value of $745,356.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 261,905 shares in the company, valued at $16,243,348.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. TheStreet downgraded Yum China from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th.

Yum China Company Profile

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Yum China Holdings, Inc engages in the operation and management of restaurants and fast food chains. It operates through the following segments: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Hut, and All Other Segments. The KFC segment operates restaurant chain. The Pizza Hut segment covers the Pizza Hut casual dining and Pizza Hut home service.