Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,232,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 174,531 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 1.38% of Yum China worth $252,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUMC. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Yum China by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Yum China by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in Yum China by 1,374.5% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,749 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Yum China Stock Up 2.0 %

Yum China stock opened at $52.29 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.38. The company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Yum China had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Yum China’s payout ratio is currently 41.20%.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total value of $202,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. This represents a 7.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total value of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. The trade was a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

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.