Ethos Capital Management Inc. Invests $1.37 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Ethos Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $126,945,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after purchasing an additional 684,946 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,944,000. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,459,940,000 after purchasing an additional 487,069 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at $10,840,607.94. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock worth $2,289,990 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $157.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.22. The company has a market cap of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly 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). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.53.

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.