Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 68,628 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners reduced its Yum! Brands stake by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 68,628 shares and leaving it with 1,012,593 shares worth about $153.2 million.
• Insider selling continued at Yum! Brands, with CEO Christopher Lee Turner and CEO Sean Tresvant both selling shares in recent weeks; insiders have sold 5,895 shares over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain moderately bullish on YUM, with 12 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings, and an average price target of $176.12 versus the stock’s recent price near $154.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,012,593 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 68,628 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands comprises about 0.9% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Yum! Brands worth $153,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on YUM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.12.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $154.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.67. The company has a market cap of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands 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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