Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 12,070 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. RB Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 9.7% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 761,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $664,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.8% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 a total of 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer raised Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $137.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $137.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.08. The stock has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

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.