The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stock Position in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) by 36.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,518,003 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 408,077 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.40% of Yum China worth $71,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Yum China by 1.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,967,353 shares of the company's stock worth $369,073,000 after purchasing an additional 121,617 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,865,803 shares of the company's stock worth $356,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609,494 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its position in Yum China by 56.3% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,394,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,203,000 after buying an additional 1,582,859 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Yum China by 350.7% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,203,087 shares of the company's stock worth $189,202,000 after buying an additional 3,270,560 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Yum China by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,552,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,939,000 after buying an additional 11,535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yum China from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Yum China from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.50 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Macquarie upgraded Yum China from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $37.40 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $51.68.

Insider Activity

In other Yum China 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 transaction of $302,716.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,641 shares in the company, valued at $789,948.27. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Yum China Price Performance

Shares of Yum China stock traded up $1.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $46.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,648,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,716,074. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $52.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.68. The company has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.36.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Yum China had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 7.97%. Yum China's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.