3,600 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Acquired by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 104,727 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $15,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 11,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,079 shares in the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 2,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.42 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.64. The company has a market cap of $40.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. Barclays set a $185.00 target price on Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum! Brands may sell Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital have boosted the “sum-of-the-parts” thesis, suggesting Yum could use proceeds to reduce debt and concentrate on higher-growth brands. Slice of the Pie: Why Yum’s Deal Lifts QSR
• Positive Sentiment: One analyst said Yum still has strong growth potential among franchised restaurant companies and argued the stock may not fully reflect those strengths yet. Yum! Brands Keeps Growing. Why the Stock Price Will Follow.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC launched a Supergirl-themed summer promotion with limited-edition meals, sauces, and collectibles, which could help near-term traffic and brand buzz. Supergirl Summer Takes Off at KFC® with New Supergirl Ultimate Meal, Character-Inspired Sauce Showdowns and Must-Have Limited-Edition Collectibles
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum announced COO and Chief People & Culture Officer Tracy Skeans will retire after more than 25 years, but she will stay on through year-end in an advisory role, which suggests an orderly transition. Yum! Brands Announces Retirement of Tracy Skeans, Chief Operating Officer and Chief People & Culture Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Yum as a defensive diversification idea outside the AI trade, which may support investor attention but is not a fundamental catalyst by itself. Jim Cramer says look to buy these 5 stocks outside the AI trade for diversification
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Scott Mezvinsky disclosed a small stock sale under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which is routine but can still weigh on sentiment when paired with other headlines. SEC Form 4 filing

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.