Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,531,518 Shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,397,321 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,531,518 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.74% of Yum China worth $500,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUMC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 43.9% during 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 in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 57,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 14,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum China by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Duoduo (Howard) Huang sold 6,377 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider now owns 16,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $789,948.27. This represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Yum China Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:YUMC traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.19. 2,893,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,446,377. 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 stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.33. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.50.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Yum China's payout ratio is 41.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.50 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Yum China from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $49.57.

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.