Matthews International Capital Management LLC Sells 146,876 Shares of Yum China $YUMC

Key Points

• Matthews International Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Yum China by 31.2%, selling 146,876 shares, making Yum China the 10th largest position in their portfolio.
• Despite institutional selling, Yum China remains popular with 85.58% of its stock owned by institutional investors, with multiple firms acquiring new positions in the company.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 39.67%.

Matthews International Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 31.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,966 shares of the company's stock after selling 146,876 shares during the period. Yum China comprises 3.3% of Matthews International Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Matthews International Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of Yum China worth $14,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth $29,000. SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 4,915.4% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 652 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the second quarter worth $36,000. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the first quarter worth $41,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Yum China in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold 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 $60.00.

Yum China Trading Down 1.1%

YUMC opened at $42.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.18. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $44.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Yum China has a 12-month low of $41.00 and a 12-month high of $53.99.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.80 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is 39.67%.

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.

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