Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 554,878 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 25,022 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.20% of Yum! Brands worth $84,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 833.3% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $168.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $157.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.02. The stock has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, November 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the company’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 value of $47,149.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 14,414 shares of company stock valued at $2,332,265 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.