Mackenzie Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 588,561 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,215 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.15% of Yum China worth $28,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Yum China by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,397,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $500,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,531,518 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,361,804 shares of the company's stock worth $499,127,000 after acquiring an additional 448,188 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 138.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,558,050 shares of the company's stock worth $412,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,969,073 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter worth $243,901,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,751,662 shares of the company's stock worth $228,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,570,419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 52,075 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC traded up $1.31 on Thursday, reaching $44.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,965,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,928,086. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.09.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Yum China's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Yum China 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.