Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) VP Sells $1,219,227.15 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $152.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.73 and a 200 day moving average of $156.47.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.