Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Cuts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.2% in Q2, now holding 316,796 shares valued at approximately $46.94 million.
• Yum! Brands reported Q2 earnings of $1.44 per share, missing estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.6%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, representing a 1.9% yield and a payout ratio of 56.02%.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316,796 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,708 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.11% of Yum! Brands worth $46,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after acquiring an additional 483,918 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,098,801 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $330,267,000 after acquiring an additional 53,326 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,954,145 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $307,504,000 after acquiring an additional 27,355 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,940,044 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $305,286,000 after acquiring an additional 430,511 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,700,298 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $267,559,000 after acquiring an additional 23,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.5%

YUM opened at $152.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $146.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.34.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 target price (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the sale, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total value of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,192 shares of company stock worth $5,346,507 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Company 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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