IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 6.4%, holding a total of 53,468 shares worth approximately $7.9 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have recently adjusted price targets for Yum! Brands, with the consensus target price now at $161.23, indicating a mix of "Buy" and "Hold" ratings from investment analysts.
• Insider transactions include CEO David W. Gibbs selling over 7,000 shares, which decreased his ownership by 6.52%, amidst a broader trend of insider selling at the company.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,468 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 3,193 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, PGIM Custom Harvest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.3% during the first quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on YUM. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Guggenheim reiterated 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.3%

YUM traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $145.63. The stock had a trading volume of 3,068,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,804,876. The company has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.21 and a 200-day moving average of $147.54. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $179,154.90. This represents a 62.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,192 shares of company stock valued at $5,346,507 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.