Danske Bank A S Purchases 9,700 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Danske Bank increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.2%, buying 9,700 shares to hold 128,538 shares worth about $19.45 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Yum! reported a Q1 beat with EPS $1.50 vs. $1.39 expected and revenue of $2.06 billion (up ~15%), aided by record digital sales (~63% of system sales) that supported margin upside.
• The stock has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $176.06; Yum! also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 ($3.00 annual, ~1.9% yield) while insiders executed some 10b5‑1 sales and institutional ownership sits around 82%.

Danske Bank A S increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,538 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $19,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.06.

Key Stories Impacting Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and margin upside — Yum reported Q1 EPS of $1.50 (above estimates) with revenue up ~15% and a large profit jump; digital sales reached a record (~63% of system sales), supporting better-than-expected fundamentals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell strength and improving visibility — Analysts (Morgan Stanley coverage cited) highlight Taco Bell’s continued comp strength and loyalty/digital engagement gains as drivers of near-term visibility and growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC global expansion and delivery gains — Management and industry write-ups point to KFC fueling international growth, helping the company’s top-line and margin mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target moves are modestly supportive but ratings remain conservative — Citi and Wells Fargo raised price targets slightly but maintain neutral/equal-weight ratings, limiting immediate bullish catalyst strength. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales executed under 10b5‑1 plans — CEO Scott Mezvinsky and CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold shares (pre-arranged plans); such filings can create near-term selling pressure but are less informative about company fundamentals. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Pizza Hut lagging — Coverage highlights Pizza Hut’s continued underperformance, which can blunt overall company upside and keep investors cautious until a clearer turnaround is visible. Read More.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE YUM opened at $158.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.77 and a 200-day moving average of $154.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands 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 $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 14,665 shares of company stock valued at $2,374,563 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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