Avanza Fonder AB Buys 4,860 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Avanza Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,860 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 22.4% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 41,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,223,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 18.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 221,878 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,878,000 after purchasing an additional 34,301 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 50.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 93,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,797,000 after buying an additional 31,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,706,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,893,000 after buying an additional 6,360 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. The trade was a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $40,176.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,840,607.94. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $159.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.64. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.62.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on YUM. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

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.