Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 18,756 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management increased its Yum! Brands stake by 83.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 18,756 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 41,182 shares worth about $6.23 million.
• Yum! Brands reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 topping estimates and revenue of $2.06 billion, while quarterly sales rose 15.2% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target price of $176.22.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 83.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,182 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 18,756 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 347,395 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $52,804,000 after purchasing an additional 57,112 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 430,416 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $65,423,000 after purchasing an additional 10,632 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $24,786,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 89.8% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 20,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock worth $451,123 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $155.24 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $157.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.22.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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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