Aureus Asset Management LLC Buys 1,300 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 78.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,966 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after buying an additional 7,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 4.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $138.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.51. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.70 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.