Capital Analysts LLC Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Capital Analysts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 59.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,104 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,596,000 after purchasing an additional 198,069 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,124 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $381,000. Finally, Adviser Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $137.84 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $137.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.08. The company has a market capitalization of $38.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.