Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, holding 334,008 shares valued at about $50.5 million at the end of the period.
• Several analysts remain constructive on YUM, with recent price targets ranging from $165 to $186 and an overall consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $176.22.
• Yum! Brands reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.50 versus the $1.39 estimate and revenue of $2.06 billion, while the stock opened lower at $151.83 after a 3.4% decline.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,008 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 7,772 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Yum! Brands worth $50,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on Yum! Brands and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,665 shares of company stock valued at $437,283. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 3.4%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $151.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.88. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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