Burney Co. Lowers Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Burney Co. lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 27.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,533 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 15,468 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $249,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,272 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,207 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $109,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 12,560 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,482.86. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:YUM opened at $165.77 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The firm's 50 day moving average is $153.86 and its 200 day moving average is $156.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.39%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.

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