Scott Mezvinsky Sells 261 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $38,664.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,551.62. The trade was a 35.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $148.42 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $155.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.64.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum! Brands may sell Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital have boosted the “sum-of-the-parts” thesis, suggesting Yum could use proceeds to reduce debt and concentrate on higher-growth brands. Slice of the Pie: Why Yum’s Deal Lifts QSR
• Positive Sentiment: One analyst said Yum still has strong growth potential among franchised restaurant companies and argued the stock may not fully reflect those strengths yet. Yum! Brands Keeps Growing. Why the Stock Price Will Follow.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC launched a Supergirl-themed summer promotion with limited-edition meals, sauces, and collectibles, which could help near-term traffic and brand buzz. Supergirl Summer Takes Off at KFC® with New Supergirl Ultimate Meal, Character-Inspired Sauce Showdowns and Must-Have Limited-Edition Collectibles
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum announced COO and Chief People & Culture Officer Tracy Skeans will retire after more than 25 years, but she will stay on through year-end in an advisory role, which suggests an orderly transition. Yum! Brands Announces Retirement of Tracy Skeans, Chief Operating Officer and Chief People & Culture Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Yum as a defensive diversification idea outside the AI trade, which may support investor attention but is not a fundamental catalyst by itself. Jim Cramer says look to buy these 5 stocks outside the AI trade for diversification
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Scott Mezvinsky disclosed a small stock sale under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which is routine but can still weigh on sentiment when paired with other headlines. SEC Form 4 filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.