Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Sells 3,746 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,746 shares during the period. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,791 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.6% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,531 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 111.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,108 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by 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 stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $47,149.68. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,414 shares of company stock worth $2,332,265. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $168.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $169.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $157.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.02.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Yum! Brands 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.