Capital International Ltd. CA Purchases 32,871 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 58.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,034 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,871 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $13,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

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 Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of YUM opened at $150.78 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.60. The stock has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a PE 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.