Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $39,972.15 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher Lee Turner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $40,105.00.
• On Monday, June 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $4.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $148.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,847,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,995. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.81 and a 200-day moving average of $156.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.94.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell attributed strong digital-sales growth to its loyalty program and plans to introduce a redesigned app in the third quarter. The initiative could improve customer engagement, ordering frequency and sales recovery. Taco Bell credits its loyalty program for digital sales growth
• Positive Sentiment: Fundsmith’s investment commentary highlighted Yum!’s rapid international expansion as a long-term growth driver, supporting the case for continued unit growth and geographic diversification. Yum! Brands: Rapid Global Expansion Drives Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage examined what Yum! Brands could look like without Pizza Hut, raising questions about the strategic and financial implications of a potential separation. The article does not indicate that a transaction has been announced. What does a Pizza Hut-less Yum Brands look like?
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares for approximately $40,000, while CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares for about $41,000. Both trades were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as a discretionary bearish signal. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: The Taco Bell cyclospora outbreak has reportedly hurt sales and customer traffic, with rising concern about brand damage and the potential impact on Yum!’s financial results. Market anxiety intensified after reports linked the outbreak to additional deaths in Michigan. Sweetgreen drops as Yum falls amid cyclospora concerns

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,991,573,000 after purchasing an additional 124,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $706,799,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,471,127 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $676,392,000 after buying an additional 104,512 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.