Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 16,265 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,834 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,265 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $18,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve equities research 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $38,664.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $71,551.62. This represents a 35.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $151.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.68. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

About Yum! Brands

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.