Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells 268 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,054.48. The trade was a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 3rd, Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $41,044.20.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of YUM stock traded down $1.23 on Tuesday, hitting $152.08. 1,595,643 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,134,946. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.54 and a 200 day moving average of $155.75. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 63.3% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,124,462 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $179,756,000 after buying an additional 435,665 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $99,621,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15,378.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,142,092 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,212,915,000 after acquiring an additional 69,688,945 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut divestiture completed: Yum! Brands completed the sale of Pizza Hut outside Mainland China to LongRange Capital for approximately $1.5 billion, with potential additional earn-out payments of up to $75 million by 2030. Including the separate Pizza Hut China transaction with Yum China, total proceeds from the broader divestiture are approximately $2.7 billion. The transaction provides cash and allows Yum to concentrate on Taco Bell, KFC and other remaining brands. Yum! Brands Completes Sale of Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital
• Positive Sentiment: Potential for a leaner portfolio: The divestiture could reduce exposure to Pizza Hut’s operational challenges and give management more flexibility to invest in faster-growing brands. LongRange Capital is expected to pursue a turnaround of Pizza Hut outside the immediate pressures of public-market reporting. 1980s Pizza King Officially Gets a New Owner
• Neutral Sentiment: International Taco Bell expansion: Americana Restaurants signed an agreement to launch Taco Bell in the United Arab Emirates, marking the brand’s return to that market after leaving in 2012. The partnership supports Taco Bell’s international growth, although the near-term financial effect on Yum! Brands was not disclosed. Americana Restaurants Signs Deal to Launch Taco Bell in UAE
• Negative Sentiment: Investor uncertainty surrounding the sale: YUM shares moved lower as the Pizza Hut transaction became final. Deal adjustments and the exact financial terms were not fully disclosed in some reports, while Eduardo Luz was named interim CEO of Pizza Hut, underscoring the brand’s ongoing turnaround needs. Investors may also be weighing the loss of Pizza Hut’s revenue contribution against the strategic benefits of the divestiture. Yum! Brands Stock Slides as Pizza Hut Sale Finalizes

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

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.