Longbow Finance SA Has $8.08 Million Stock Holdings in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA reduced its stake in Yum China by 17.7%, now holding 155,150 shares valued at approximately $8.08 million as of the most recent quarter.
• Yum China received a "strong-buy" rating upgrade from Daiwa America, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.
• Yum China recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.98% and a payout ratio of 40.17%.

Longbow Finance SA cut its holdings in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,150 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,317 shares during the quarter. Longbow Finance SA's holdings in Yum China were worth $8,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 4.9% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its stake in Yum China by 1.9% in the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 18,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Yum China by 30.5% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 34,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $48.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.28.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Yum China's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. 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.

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