Cantillon Capital Management LLC Acquires 15,649 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,055,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,649 shares during the period. Yum! Brands comprises 1.7% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $311,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 241,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,576,000 after purchasing an additional 13,320 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $451,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 52,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,882,000 after acquiring an additional 3,402 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 172.4% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 365 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 35,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,416,000 after acquiring an additional 15,204 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of YUM opened at $150.78 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The company 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $155.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.65.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued 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. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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 is currently 48.39%.

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.