Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $11,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $602,551,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,382,000 after buying an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $197,013,000 after buying an additional 703,891 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 35.9% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,306,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $341,841,000 after acquiring an additional 609,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 31,860.2% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,400,000 after acquiring an additional 448,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $160.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $165.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $154.43 and its 200-day moving average is $149.58.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its 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 negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 51.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “overweight” rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.29.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was 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 owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 36,608 shares of company stock valued at $5,607,456 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.