White Oak Capital Partners Pte. Ltd. Buys New Stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

White Oak Capital Partners Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 24,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,164,000. Yum China makes up about 0.6% of White Oak Capital Partners Pte. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUMC. MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter valued at about $319,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Yum China by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 394,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,013,000 after purchasing an additional 123,150 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Advisors Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,531,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its holdings in Yum China by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 60,510 shares of the company's stock worth $2,915,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,347,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum China

In related news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,152 shares of company stock valued at $2,242,176. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America raised shares of Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Yum China Trading Up 7.4 %

Shares of Yum China stock opened at $44.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.32. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.50 and a 52-week high of $53.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $48.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 13.83%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Yum China's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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