Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $40,105.00 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $40,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,272,013.44. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher Lee Turner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80.
• On Friday, May 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $164.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $153.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.43. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.