North Dakota State Investment Board Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 9,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,446,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 19.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 347,395 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,804,000 after buying an additional 57,112 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 430,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,423,000 after buying an additional 10,632 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $24,786,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 89.8% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 20,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,040,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders backed Yum! Brands’ board and current governance structure at the annual meeting, reducing near-term governance uncertainty and signaling investor support for management. Yum! Brands Shareholders Back Board, Governance Structure
• Positive Sentiment: KFC rolled out limited-time menu promotions, including the return of fried pickles and a new 5-for-$5 tenders deal, which could help drive traffic and support near-term sales at one of Yum’s key brands. KFC Brings Back Popular Fried Pickles and Introduces New 5 for $5 Tenders Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Taco Bell’s foundation announced $14.5 million in scholarship awards, a brand-building and community-focused update that is positive for reputation but unlikely to materially affect earnings in the near term. Taco Bell Foundation Scholarship Announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment toward the restaurant sector remains cautious, with UBS describing demand as “still-sluggish,” which may weigh on expectations for Yum’s same-store sales and traffic trends. Investors Remain Cautious Amid Still-Sluggish Restaurant Industry Demand, UBS Says
• Negative Sentiment: A lawsuit alleging Pizza Hut’s AI system caused operational issues and about $100 million in damages could raise legal, reputational, and franchise-related concerns for Yum! Brands. Pizza Hut AI System Lawsuit

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $152.13 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.25. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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