Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Purchased by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 974,960 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,235 shares during the period. Yum! Brands accounts for 0.6% of USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $151,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $159.88 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $153.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

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

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.