Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Buys New Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Marks Group Wealth Management opened a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter, buying 7,606 shares valued at about $1.15 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 82.37% of Yum! Brands. Several large holders, including Vanguard and Capital International Investors, also increased their stakes.
• Yum! Brands has been in the news for a possible Pizza Hut sale, while its latest earnings topped estimates with $1.50 EPS and $2.06 billion in revenue. The company also declared a $0.75 quarterly dividend.

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,606 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after buying an additional 684,946 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after buying an additional 121,304 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $706,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,348,846 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $509,025,000 after purchasing an additional 176,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands is reportedly close to selling Pizza Hut to a private equity buyer, a move that could simplify the company’s structure and allow management to focus on higher-performing brands like Taco Bell and KFC. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched “The Summer of Hut Originals,” a marketing campaign that brings back nostalgic promotions like BOOK IT!, which could support brand engagement and traffic in the near term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Tracy Skeans, Yum’s COO and Chief People Officer, is retiring after more than 25 years with the company. Leadership turnover can create uncertainty, but the announcement appears to be a planned retirement rather than a surprise departure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary noted that Yum! Brands has underperformed the consumer cyclical sector and lagged some peers, even though analysts still remain moderately optimistic on the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch reported that Yum! Brands stock underperformed competitors on Monday, reflecting some relative weakness versus restaurant peers. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $151.79 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.66. The company has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 48.39%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

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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