Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $30.83 Million Stake in Yum China $YUMC

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703,343 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 218,450 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.19% of Yum China worth $30,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yum China by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. BNP Paribas boosted its position in shares of Yum China by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 15,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Yum China by 9.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Everstar Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum China by 5.3% in the second quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 5,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Yum China by 5.4% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Warton Wang sold 8,187 shares of Yum China stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total transaction of $395,268.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,261,773.16. The trade was a 14.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeff Kuai sold 5,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $248,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 56,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,896. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,306,804. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUMC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $63.64 price objective on shares of Yum China in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Yum China from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. CLSA reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Yum China in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yum China in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.50 target price on shares of Yum China in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum China currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.05.

Yum China Stock Performance

YUMC opened at $55.42 on Friday. Yum China has a 1-year low of $41.00 and a 1-year high of $58.39. The company has a market cap of $20.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Yum China had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Yum China will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum China declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum China Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Yum China’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Yum China’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.25%.

About Yum China

Yum China Holdings, Inc operates as the largest quick-service restaurant company in China, through its ownership and franchising of brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The company’s core business encompasses full-service and fast?casual dining, takeout and delivery channels, as well as ancillary services including loyalty programs and digital ordering platforms. Yum China’s restaurants offer a diverse menu that adapts global brand concepts to local consumer preferences, featuring items such as soy?marinated chicken, customized pizzas and region?inspired side dishes.

In addition to its signature brands, Yum China has expanded its portfolio to include innovative concepts tailored to evolving market trends, such as plant?based offerings, self?service kiosks and mobile app integrations.