Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells 284 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $47,149.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 13th, Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56.
• On Monday, December 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $42,274.92.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $165.61. 525,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,057,227. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $156.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Gordon Haskett raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

Yum! Brands Company 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.