Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. Raises Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 60.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,210 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $706,799,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $126,945,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,356,869,000 after purchasing an additional 684,946 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,944,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE YUM opened at $150.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.60. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum Brands is weighing an exit from Pizza Hut are boosting the stock on hopes that divesting the weaker pizza chain could sharpen execution and improve margins. Pizza Hut’s future in doubt as Yum Brands weighs exit and surprise company eyes takeover
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer also argued that “a Yum free of Pizza Hut” could trade higher, reinforcing the market’s view that a possible sale would be a value-creating move for YUM. Jim Cramer Believes “A Yum Free of Pizza Hut Is a Yum That’s Going to Trade Much Higher”
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary raised Yum’s fair value estimate and cited stronger KFC and Taco Bell fundamentals, suggesting the stock may still have upside if the Pizza Hut situation is resolved favorably. How The Investment Story Is Shifting For Yum Brands (YUM) After New Targets And Pizza Hut Talks
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum announced that COO and Chief People Officer Tracy Skeans will retire after 25 years, a leadership change that adds some succession-planning focus but is not clearly a major business setback. Yum Brands COO Tracy Skeans stepping down after 25 years with the company
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate coverage repeated the retirement news, keeping the focus on management transition rather than a change in near-term operating results. Yum Brands COO and chief people officer to retire after 25 years with the company

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.