Invesco Ltd. Sells 207,610 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 9.1%, now holding approximately 2,076,561 shares valued at about $326.8 million after selling 207,610 shares in the first quarter.
• Yum! Brands reported EPS of $1.44 for the recent quarter, falling short of expectations, with revenues up 9.6% year-over-year but below consensus estimates.
• Several analysts have recently downgraded their price targets for Yum! Brands' stock, with Wells Fargo lowering it from $160 to $155, while maintaining an "equal weight" rating.

Invesco Ltd. decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,076,561 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 207,610 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.75% of Yum! Brands worth $326,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 151.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,657,000 after buying an additional 94,355 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $55,564,000 after buying an additional 6,673 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total value of $36,798.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,983 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,764. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. 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. TD Cowen cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $141.32 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $145.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.21.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 56.02%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding YUM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.