Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stake Raised by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 26.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,757 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,685 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $126,945,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $86,944,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,459,940,000 after acquiring an additional 487,069 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $38,664.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $71,551.62. The trade was a 35.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands announced a leadership transition in its COO role, with Tracy Skeans set to retire after more than 25 years and remain as an advisor through year-end. The orderly transition may reassure investors that the company is managing succession smoothly. Yum! Brands Announces Retirement of Tracy Skeans, Chief Operating Officer and Chief People & Culture Officer
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum! Brands may sell Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital have fueled a “sum-of-the-parts” story, potentially allowing the company to focus on higher-growth, higher-margin brands like KFC and Taco Bell and use proceeds to reduce debt. Yum Brands in talks to sell Pizza Hut to private equity firm: report
• Neutral Sentiment: KFC announced a Supergirl-themed summer promotion with limited-edition meals, sauces, and collectibles. This could support near-term traffic, but it is too early to tell whether the campaign will materially move results. Supergirl Summer Takes Off at KFC® with New Supergirl Ultimate Meal, Character-Inspired Sauce Showdowns and Must-Have Limited-Edition Collectibles
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer included Yum! Brands among stocks he likes for diversification outside the AI trade, which may help keep YUM on investors’ radar but does not change fundamentals by itself. Jim Cramer says look to buy these 5 stocks outside the AI trade for diversification
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider filings showed CEO stock sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. While routine, insider selling can still add pressure on sentiment when the stock is already under review. SEC Form 4 filing

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $146.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $169.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $156.11 and its 200-day moving average is $155.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

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.