AMF Tjanstepension AB Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 166,359 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $25,167,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $126,945,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after buying an additional 684,946 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $86,944,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,459,940,000 after buying an additional 487,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 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 $40,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.5%

YUM opened at $152.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.16.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS 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 negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Yum! Brands 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.