Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 377 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,548 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.7% in the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.6% in the second quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,762 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 8.3% in the second quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 9,933 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 11.0% in the second quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 7.0% in the second quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:YUM opened at $141.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.88.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Melius began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.48.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This trade represents a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,195 shares of company stock valued at $5,348,137 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.