70,808 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Bought by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired 70,808 shares of Yum! Brands for about $11.14 million, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Yum! Brands announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 56.57%.
• Analysts have upgraded Yum! Brands' stock ratings, with the price target raised to as high as $167.00 by Goldman Sachs, reflecting positive investor sentiment.

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 70,808 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $11,142,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,908 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock worth $2,150,965. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.9%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $145.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The company's 50-day moving average price is $145.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.26.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

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.

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