Sarasin & Partners LLP Buys Shares of 55,000 Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 55,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,863,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum China by 399.1% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in Yum China by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the first quarter worth approximately $902,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 7.0% during the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 15,558 shares of the company's stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Stock Performance

Yum China stock traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,582,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,922,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.80. The company has a market cap of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.28.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. Yum China's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Yum China's payout ratio is 40.17%.

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.