Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,238,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 294,592 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.45% of Yum! Brands worth $188,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $47,149.68. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $161.84 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $158.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.04. The company has a market capitalization of $44.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.64.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

Yum! Brands 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.