Forsta AP Fonden Buys 1,500 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 200,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.8% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 419,784 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total value of $1,074,964.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,413,371.40. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 13,538 shares of company stock worth $2,029,594 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE YUM opened at $149.55 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.29.

About Yum! Brands

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.