Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Raises Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,418,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands accounts for about 1.2% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $223,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,795.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $121,137,000 after buying an additional 764,637 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $97,453,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $475,714,000 after buying an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after buying an additional 483,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 28.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,940,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $305,286,000 after buying an additional 430,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,106 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.84, for a total transaction of $1,043,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,108,808.12. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the sale, the director owned 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This represents a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,284 shares of company stock worth $4,310,663. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $146.9160 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $146.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.21. The firm has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.