US Bancorp DE Reduces Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

US Bancorp DE decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,427 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,273 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $15,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,058,156,000 after purchasing an additional 373,232 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,914,257,000 after purchasing an additional 678,659 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,939,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $823,534,000 after acquiring an additional 121,285 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $331,831,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,592,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $208,045,000 after purchasing an additional 570,263 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $129.54. 718,710 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,985,560. The company has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.19 and its 200-day moving average is $135.02.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,398 shares of company stock worth $4,552,727 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.