Sentry Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 75.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,229 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $137.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. Yum! Brands’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. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Yum! Brands Company 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.