Ameriprise Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 65.3% during the 1st quarter, holding approximately 0.13% of the company valued at about $55.66 million.
• A number of institutional investors have shifted their positions in Yum!, with 82.37% of shares currently held by hedge funds and institutional players.
• Yum! Brands recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, translating to a yield of 2.0%, with a payout ratio of 56.02%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 65.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 353,648 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 139,698 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.13% of Yum! Brands worth $55,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGIM Custom Harvest LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $145.45 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.19.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This trade represents a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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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