Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $48,000 Investment in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUMC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a report on Thursday, January 4th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.65.

Yum China Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $37.10 on Monday. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.55 and a 12-month high of $64.50. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.12. Yum China had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

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.