Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,730,000 after buying an additional 7,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $138.63 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $134.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.47. The company has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on YUM. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. 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.