Swedbank AB Purchases 14,503 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 165,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,503 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $25,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 3,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the third quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 17,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% 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 sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $155.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.10 and a 200 day moving average of $155.61.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.22.

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.