Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $962,680.42 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of YUM traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $160.50. 837,712 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,949,809. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.19. The company has a market capitalization of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,294,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.