Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Acquired by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 7.6%, acquiring an additional 1,715 shares, bringing its total to 24,419 shares valued at approximately $3.84 million.
• CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,106 shares of Yum! Brands at a total value of over $1 million, leading to a 6.46% decrease in his position.
• Analysts are divided on Yum! Brands stock, with 10 rated as "Buy" and 13 as "Hold," reflecting varied opinions on the company's future performance.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,419 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.2870 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.7230. 1,995,333 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,270,952. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $41.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $146.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.05.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Melius initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $260,231.40. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total value of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,284 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,663. 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.