Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Cuts Position in Yum China $YUMC

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs reduced its stake in Yum China by 32.7%, selling over 831,000 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to around 1.7 million shares valued at approximately $89 million.
• Yum China reported a 4% increase in revenue for the recent quarter, with earnings per share at $0.58, slightly surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company has declared a $0.24 quarterly dividend, representing a 2.2% yield, with the payment scheduled for September 23rd.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 32.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,714,232 shares of the company's stock after selling 831,501 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.46% of Yum China worth $89,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,985,966 shares of the company's stock worth $1,248,709,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485,735 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Yum China by 9.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,076,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,119,000 after purchasing an additional 171,643 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Yum China by 4,967.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 98,914 shares of the company's stock worth $5,149,000 after buying an additional 96,962 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum China by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,102,077 shares of the company's stock worth $734,150,000 after buying an additional 3,704,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,863,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum China Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of YUMC stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $43.63. 1,135,969 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,057,662. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.82 and a 200 day moving average of $46.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 1 year low of $34.14 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The firm has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.22.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.13%. Yum China's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Yum China 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 Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.67%.

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.