Fox Run Management L.L.C. Buys 3,406 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 105.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,356,869,000 after purchasing an additional 684,946 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $706,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,348,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $509,025,000 after purchasing an additional 176,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands is reportedly close to selling Pizza Hut to a private equity buyer, a move that could simplify the company’s structure and allow management to focus on higher-performing brands like Taco Bell and KFC. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched “The Summer of Hut Originals,” a marketing campaign that brings back nostalgic promotions like BOOK IT!, which could support brand engagement and traffic in the near term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Tracy Skeans, Yum’s COO and Chief People Officer, is retiring after more than 25 years with the company. Leadership turnover can create uncertainty, but the announcement appears to be a planned retirement rather than a surprise departure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary noted that Yum! Brands has underperformed the consumer cyclical sector and lagged some peers, even though analysts still remain moderately optimistic on the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch reported that Yum! Brands stock underperformed competitors on Monday, reflecting some relative weakness versus restaurant peers. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $151.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $155.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

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.