Kentucky Retirement Systems Raises Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 110.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,267 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $86,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,836 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $1,589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,030,000 after buying an additional 30,075 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $1,264,000. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $1,372,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,482.86. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,544. This trade 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 have sold 11,896 shares of company stock valued at $1,869,148 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reported adjusted earnings of $1.62 per share, exceeding the $1.58–$1.59 analyst consensus. Revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion, broadly in line with expectations, while GAAP EPS reached $3.08. Yum Brands Reports Second-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell was the main earnings driver, with strong sales, restaurant-level margins, and continued international expansion helping offset weaker performance at Pizza Hut. The result suggests the company entered the quarter with solid operating momentum. Yum Brands Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Taco Bell Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Taco Bell traffic and sales are beginning to recover after the company removed affected lettuce and communicated its response to consumers. Discounts and new menu items are being used to rebuild visits and customer trust. Taco Bell Parent Company Says Sales Already Recovering
• Neutral Sentiment: The reported quarter ended June 30 and largely predates the cyclospora outbreak, limiting the usefulness of the strong results as a guide to current Taco Bell trends. Cyclospora Outbreak Clouds Strong Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell same-store sales declined 2% quarter-to-date through July 27 after a multistate cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce sickened thousands of people. The disruption could pressure near-term sales, marketing costs, and margins. Taco Bell Works to Restore Sales Following Cyclospora Outbreak
• Negative Sentiment: Investors received limited detail about the outbreak’s ultimate financial impact, leaving uncertainty around the pace of recovery and potential reputational or legal liabilities. Yum Brands Reports Mixed Results but Gives No Update on Outbreak

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $157.04 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $153.98 and its 200 day moving average is $156.74. The firm has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.91 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.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.81.

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.