Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Makes New $944,000 Investment in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yum China by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum China by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 906.5% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 926 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 140.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,490 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China in the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUMC. Citigroup upgraded shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum China presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.47, for a total value of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Down 1.5 %

YUMC traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $48.80. 2,473,202 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,155,965. The firm has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.89 and a 200 day moving average of $38.60.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

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.