Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $12.60 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 78,790 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $12,595,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,186,811,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $706,799,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $638,589,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $297,591,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $41,044.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,971.45. This trade represents a 35.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,512 shares of company stock worth $2,899,517 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $154.08 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.79. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands 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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