Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 1,571 Shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its position in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,571 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Yum China were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Yum China by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Yum China by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Yum China by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum China Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of YUMC stock opened at $42.79 on Thursday. Yum China has a 1-year low of $28.50 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.07 and a 200 day moving average of $46.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.28.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum China will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum China Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUMC shares. Wall Street Zen cut Yum China from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

Yum China 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.