VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New $99.62 Million Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 623,178 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $99,621,000. Yum! Brands accounts for 0.6% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.23% of Yum! Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Yum! Brands by 15,378.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,142,092 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,212,915,000 after buying an additional 69,688,945 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,991,573,000 after acquiring an additional 124,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $150.58 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $153.43 and its 200-day moving average is $155.49.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.49 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands 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.