4,436 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has invested approximately $698,000 in Yum! Brands, acquiring 4,436 shares during the first quarter, as detailed in their latest SEC filing.
• Yum! Brands recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.44, missing the consensus estimate by two cents and generating revenues of $1.93 billion, slightly below expectations.
• The company's stock currently has an average price target of $159.82 among analysts, with a mix of buy and hold ratings reflecting a cautious market outlook.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,436 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,142,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $397,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 4,270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM traded down $1.22 on Friday, reaching $141.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,262,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,638. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $39.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $145.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given 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, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,084,113.80. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,983 shares of company stock valued at $2,187,764 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.