Scott Mezvinsky Sells 277 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,482.86. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, June 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $38,664.54.
• On Friday, May 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $164.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $632,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $168,604,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Company 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.