Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,747 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,787 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $197,013,000 after purchasing an additional 703,891 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,382,000 after purchasing an additional 713,167 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 126.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,326,000 after buying an additional 16,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,557,612 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,120,747,000 after buying an additional 448,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.15.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.4%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $155.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.00.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target on Yum! to $179, signaling conviction in upside vs. the current trading range and providing tangible valuation support. Barclays Increases Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $179.00
• Positive Sentiment: Gordon Haskett upgraded YUM from hold to buy, adding buying momentum from the sell-side and reinforcing investor confidence. Gordon Haskett upgrades Yum! Brands (YUM)
• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating, which supports demand from investors who follow benchmark research. Sanford Bernstein reaffirms overweight
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights Yum!’s multi-year shareholder returns (about a 9.0% CAGR over five years), which can attract long-term investors and supports valuation stability. Yum! Brands shareholders have earned a 9.0% CAGR over the last five years
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus remains constructive overall (consensus “Moderate Buy”), but it points to mixed analyst views and moderate upside rather than a unanimous bullish case. Yum! Brands Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Several write-ups describe analyst sentiment as “cautiously optimistic” amid leadership changes — this tempers enthusiasm and suggests the stock could see increased volatility while investors wait for clarity. Cautiously Optimistic Analyst Sentiment on Yum! Brands (YUM) Amid Leadership Changes
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital issued a “hold,” which may cap near-term upside from investors who follow that shop. Yum! Brands Gets a Hold from BMO Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Oppenheimer downgraded Yum!, introducing sell-side downside pressure and signaling that some analysts see execution or leadership risks that could weigh on growth expectations. Oppenheimer downgrades Yum! Brands (YUM)

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total value of $3,627,901.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,292. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Yum! Brands

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.