West Tower Group LLC Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $59,289,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 437,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,712,000 after buying an additional 255,495 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $30,098,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,792,000 after buying an additional 144,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $157.13 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $142.12 and a 200-day moving average of $137.39. The company has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.