Pavion Blue Capital LLC Reduces Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Pavion Blue Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,439 shares of the company’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 12,223,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389,987 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,645,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,859 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Yum China by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,069,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lind Value II ApS bought a new position in shares of Yum China during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,246,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUMC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.18.

Yum China Price Performance

YUMC opened at $43.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.50 and a 1 year high of $53.42. The firm has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. Yum China had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Yum China’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other Yum China news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.74 per share, for a total transaction of $101,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at $407,849.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CTO Leila Zhang bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.36 per share, for a total transaction of $133,440.00. Following the purchase, the chief technology officer now directly owns 41,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,379,069.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at $407,849.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.