ABN Amro Investment Solutions Purchases 11,327 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 645.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,327 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 13,082 shares valued at about $1.98 million.
• Yum! Brands reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 beating estimates and revenue of $2.06 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share to be paid June 12, and analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $176.22.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 645.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,082 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 11,327 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $155.24 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.16 and a 200-day moving average of $155.46. The company has a market capitalization of $42.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on YUM shares. Barclays set a $185.00 target price on Yum! Brands and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,359,304.96. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,890 shares of company stock worth $451,123. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

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.

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