Cigna Investments Inc. New Grows Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Cigna Investments Inc. New lifted its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,690 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Yum China were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum China during the third quarter worth about $218,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum China in the third quarter worth approximately $374,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in Yum China by 56.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Yum China by 3.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie raised shares of Yum China from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock 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 report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.18.

Yum China Trading Up 2.2 %

YUMC opened at $45.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.39 and its 200-day moving average is $36.36. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $51.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Yum China had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In other Yum China news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,849.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Robert Blaine Aiken, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.74 per share, with a total value of $101,220.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,849.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai bought 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.72 per share, for a total transaction of $127,608.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,608. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 18,400 shares of company stock worth $619,671 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.