Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Reduces Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,628 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,182 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $11,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,677,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $225,025,000 after purchasing an additional 44,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 749,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $95,792,000 after acquiring an additional 144,406 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $157.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.53. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on 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 Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

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.