North Star Investment Management Corp. Cuts Stock Holdings in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC)

North Star Investment Management Corp. trimmed its position in Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 41.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,593 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,728 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings in Yum China were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at $856,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum China by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 9,154 shares of the company's stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Yum China by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,511 shares of the company's stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Yum China by 8,671.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 113,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,450,000 after acquiring an additional 111,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUMC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum China presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Yum China Price Performance

NYSE YUMC traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,382,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,908,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.28. Yum China has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.73.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Yum China's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.