36,200 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Purchased by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 36,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,476,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $29,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 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 position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $157.69 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $154.99 and a 200 day moving average of $155.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands agreed to sell Pizza Hut outside mainland China to LongRange Capital and Pizza Hut’s mainland China business to Yum China, simplifying the portfolio and sharpening the company’s focus on stronger brands. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The board approved an additional $4 billion share repurchase authorization, signaling management expects to return a meaningful portion of the sale proceeds to shareholders. RTTNews article
• Positive Sentiment: The transaction could improve Yum’s growth profile and margins by exiting a struggling chain that has been losing market share and weighing on earnings. CNBC article
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum! Brands also showcased a broader refresh at KFC, including new menu items, drinks, branding, and store concepts, which supports the long-term strategy but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Fox Business article
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen reaffirmed a Buy rating and raised its price target to $180, reinforcing a constructive analyst view on the stock. Benzinga article

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.