Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,366,926 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 341,142 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up 1.5% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 5.53% of Yum! Brands worth $2,324,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: The Pizza Hut divestiture could simplify Yum! Brands’ portfolio, reduce a long-running drag on growth, and allow management to concentrate capital and attention on higher-performing brands like KFC and Taco Bell, which many investors see as the company’s core growth engines.
• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands also authorized a $4 billion share repurchase plan, which signals management confidence and could support earnings per share if executed over time.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators noted that the sale may unlock value and improve flexibility, but views remain mixed on whether the stock is already fairly valued after recent gains.
• Negative Sentiment: Pizza Hut was sold after a prolonged demand slump, underscoring weakness in one of Yum! Brands’ key legacy concepts and raising questions about the pace of growth the company can deliver without it.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts still see valuation as a near-term limit on upside, suggesting the stock may not rerate sharply even after the portfolio cleanup.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE YUM opened at $152.15 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $154.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.93 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on YUM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

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.