Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 334,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 7,772 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $50,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $151.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.88. 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 $41.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,665 shares of company stock worth $437,283 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.