Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys New Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec has acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc., purchasing 68,566 shares valued at approximately $10.79 million.
• Yum! Brands reported earnings per share of $1.44 for the last quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.46, while revenue was $1.93 billion, also below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 2.0%, with the payment scheduled for September 12th.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 68,566 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $10,790,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $2,025,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $1,295,000. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $210,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 458.8% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 30,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,844,000 after purchasing an additional 25,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 23,390 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.1%

YUM opened at $145.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.19.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,284 shares of company stock worth $4,310,663 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 restated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Profile

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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