Christopher Lee Turner Sells 250 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $40,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,272,013.44. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher Lee Turner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80.
• On Friday, May 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $164.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $153.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $632,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $168,604,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% 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.