Highland Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum China were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 116.8% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum China by 817.3% during the second quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 477 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut their target price on Yum China from $66.80 to $51.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $65.00) on shares of Yum China in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Yum China in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum China has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.65.

Yum China Trading Down 0.2 %

YUMC stock opened at $38.98 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.55 and a 52-week high of $64.70. The firm has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.46.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.12. Yum China had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

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.