Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $521,000 Investment in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum China by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,102,077 shares of the company's stock worth $734,150,000 after acquiring an additional 3,704,756 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of Yum China by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,286 shares of the company's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 8,016 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,863,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 255.9% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 45,540 shares of the company's stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 32,745 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Performance

NYSE:YUMC traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.85. The stock had a trading volume of 2,750,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,556. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.27. Yum China has a 52 week low of $32.67 and a 52 week high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

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.