American Century Companies Inc. Has $9.77 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.0%, currently holding shares worth $9.77 million.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, missing estimates, and had a revenue of $1.93 billion.
• Yum! Brands recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%.

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,069 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,920 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This trade represents a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,284 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,663. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:YUM opened at $147.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

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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