Scotia Capital Inc. Takes $317,000 Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum China by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum China by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Insider Transactions at Yum China

In other news, CEO Joey Wat sold 37,252 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.71, for a total transaction of $1,851,796.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 382,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,021,879.47. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 56,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,728,782.42. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of Yum China stock traded down $2.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.33. 6,305,054 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,959,913. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.53. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.50 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The firm has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

Yum China Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Yum China's payout ratio is 41.20%.

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.