Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,388 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 130,808 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,549,000 after buying an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $311,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.70.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:YUM traded down $0.22 on Friday, hitting $143.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,184,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,701. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $147.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.62. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,334 shares of company stock valued at $9,734,737. 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.