Cantillon Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Cantillon Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,811,796 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 244,087 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands accounts for approximately 1.9% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 0.66% of Yum! Brands worth $281,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after acquiring an additional 124,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in 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 purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $706,799,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,471,127 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $676,392,000 after purchasing an additional 104,512 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reiterated its upcoming second-quarter earnings schedule, keeping attention on potential bottom-line improvement when results are released later this month. Yum! Brands Announces Q2 2026 Earnings and Conference Call Details
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts expect the Taco Bell lettuce scare to have a limited long-term impact, suggesting the stock could stabilize once the contamination issue is contained. The cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taco Bell is hitting some restaurant stocks, but don’t expect a long-term impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on what Yum! Brands’ next quarterly report may show, with commentary pointing to expected earnings growth for the quarter. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Authorities linked Taco Bell’s shredded iceberg lettuce supplier to the cyclosporiasis outbreak, which could hurt Taco Bell sales, trigger cleanup costs, and create reputational risk for Yum! Brands. Sweetgreen Pares 26% Drop as Parasite Tied to Taco Bell Lettuce
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell has already removed the affected shredded lettuce in some states after government warnings, reinforcing concern that the outbreak may disrupt operations and consumer traffic in the near term. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $147.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.88. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on YUM. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721. 0.14% of the stock is 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.