Stephens Inc. AR Has $1.81 Million Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.59, for a total transaction of $41,962.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $267,795.45. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE YUM opened at $146.42 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.24. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.64 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 56.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.14.

Yum! Brands Company 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.