Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by Sustainable Growth Advisers LP

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lessened its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,497,429 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 237,677 shares during the period. Yum! Brands comprises about 2.6% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $377,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE YUM opened at $147.57 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $169.39. The company has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.89.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,364 shares of company stock valued at $827,837. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.