Earnest Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,126 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,030 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC's holdings in Yum China were worth $3,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum China by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,206,000 after buying an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at $459,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum China in the 3rd quarter worth $868,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Yum China during the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 3rd quarter valued at about $944,000. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of YUMC stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,063,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,936,189. Yum China Holdings, Inc. 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 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.33. The company has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Yum China Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Yum China's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Yum China Company 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.