Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 126.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,282 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.7% in the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 30,970 shares of company stock worth $4,624,805 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. TD Cowen raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $173.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, December 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.38.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $153.69 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.89.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

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.