iA Global Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 56.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 22,014 shares worth about $3.33 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average target price of $176.22.
• Yum! Brands reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $1.50 versus $1.39 expected and revenue of $2.06 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 56.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,014 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 7,917 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 6,080 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $572,000. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 55,455 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,551 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 5,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 540.1% during the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 11,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 10,041 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% 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 have sold a total of 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $152.19 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $157.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

About Yum! Brands

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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