Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Purchases Shares of 34,314 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 34,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,335,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on YUM. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.81.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum appointed Nai De Leon as Chief People & Culture Officer, effective November 1, signaling a leadership refresh and continued focus on culture and talent management at the company. Yum! Brands (YUM) Appoints Nai De Leon As People Chief In Leadership Shift
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell is responding to the outbreak with a $1 lettuce-free Enchirito promotion, a move aimed at winning back customers and stabilizing traffic. Taco Bell Offers $1 Lettuce-Free Enchirito to Win Back Customers Post-Parasite
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts said the Taco Bell outbreak may hurt sales in the short term, but they do not expect lasting damage to the brand, suggesting the selloff may be tied more to near-term sentiment than a structural problem. Cyclosporiasis outbreak hits Taco Bell sales, unlikely to cause lasting scar, analysts say
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Taco Bell visits plunged 19% after the outbreak highlight a meaningful traffic hit, which could pressure same-store sales and earnings expectations for Yum! Brands. Visits To Taco Bell Plummeted 19% After Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked To Restaurant’s Lettuce

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% 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. Insiders sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $147.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.79.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.