Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $39,931.35 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $39,931.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,225 shares in the company, valued at $8,858,454.75. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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, August 3rd, Christopher Turner sold 261 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $144.64 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $145.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.91. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.26 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $740,462,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317,526 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $279,432,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.56.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, which specializes in fried and cooked chicken; Taco Bell, known for Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which offers pizza and related products; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain focused on chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.

The company primarily uses a franchised business model, working with franchisees and licensees to operate restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories.