ING Groep NV Buys 15,204 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• ING Groep NV boosted its Yum! Brands stake by 73.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 15,204 shares to reach 35,800 shares valued at about $5.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several other hedge funds also increasing their positions; institutions now hold 82.37% of Yum! Brands shares.
• Yum! Brands reported solid quarterly results and a dividend, beating EPS expectations and growing revenue 15.2% year over year, while also announcing a $0.75 quarterly dividend to be paid on June 12.

ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 73.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,800 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 15,204 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Capital International Sarl raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 137,133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $20,745,000 after purchasing an additional 56,786 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA raised its position in Yum! Brands by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 89,034 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $13,469,000 after buying an additional 32,871 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA raised its position in Yum! Brands by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 420,796 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $63,658,000 after buying an additional 56,240 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 16,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 6,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $147.28 on Tuesday. 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 $155.14 and a 200-day moving average of $155.64. The company has a market capitalization of $40.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 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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