Capital International Inc. CA Buys 56,240 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Capital International Inc. CA increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 420,796 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,240 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA owned approximately 0.15% of Yum! Brands worth $63,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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 Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $150.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.60. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Yum! Brands 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.