Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires 80,920 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp significantly increased its stake in Yum! Brands, acquiring 80,920 shares for a total of 89,467 shares, valued at approximately $14.6 million.
• Insider trading activity includes COO Tracy L. Skeans selling 12,220 shares worth about $1.81 million and Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick selling 2,038 shares for $296,121.40.
• Yum! Brands recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.0% with a payout ratio of 56.02%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 946.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,467 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 80,920 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $41,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $144.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $40.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $146.77 and a 200-day moving average of $148.06.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Melius initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.23.

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.