Econ Financial Services Corp Buys Shares of 15,473 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Econ Financial Services Corp purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,341,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 3,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $155.57 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $169.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $159.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. The trade was a 45.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsement — Jim Cramer called YUM “come down to a very attractive price,” highlighting the company’s growth, asset-light model and valuation; that kind of media endorsement can spur retail buying and short-term momentum. Jim Cramer Believes Yum! Brands “Has Come Down to a Very Attractive Price”
• Positive Sentiment: Operational catalyst — KFC (a Yum brand) launched Value Feast Boxes at $7/$9/$11, a clear value push designed to drive transactions and comp growth during price-sensitive periods; strong traffic lift from a value rollout can boost same-store sales and franchisee royalties. KFC mimics Taco Bell in latest value play
• Positive Sentiment: Network expansion in Australia — Reports say Collins Foods will transfer 20 Taco Bell outlets to Yum Brands, expanding Yum’s direct footprint/oversight in a growth market and potentially improving unit economics and royalty revenue in that region. Australia’s Collins Foods to transfer 20 Taco Bell outlets to Yum Brands
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent movement in quick‑service industry — Jack in the Box named former Yum marketing executive Katelyn Zborowski as CMO; this highlights Yum’s bench of marketing talent but is unlikely to be a material near-term driver for YUM’s results. Jack in the Box names Yum Brands veteran Katelyn Zborowski chief marketing officer
• Negative Sentiment: Sector stress signal — a regional pizza franchisee filed Chapter 11, underscoring continued pressure and overcapacity in parts of the pizza/fast-casual segment; broader weaker franchisee economics or aggressive value wars could pressure Yum’s margins if the promotion cadence intensifies. Popular pizza chain franchisee files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.