Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 173,855 Shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Yum China by 4.1%, now owning over 4 million shares valued at approximately $210.54 million.
• Yum China has been given a "strong-buy" rating by Daiwa America, with a consensus price target of $48.70, indicating positive sentiment from analysts.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.05%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,044,105 shares of the company's stock after selling 173,855 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 1.08% of Yum China worth $210,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUMC. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 689.6% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 529 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Yum China by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 912 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.70.

Yum China Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE YUMC traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,007,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,611,645. The company has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.28. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $45.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.43. Yum China has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Yum China will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.