Swedbank AB Acquires 14,503 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its Yum! Brands stake by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 14,503 shares to bring its total holding to 165,347 shares, worth about $25.0 million.
• Yum! Brands posted solid quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 topping estimates and revenue of $2.06 billion slightly above forecasts; revenue also rose 15.2% from a year earlier.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on YUM, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $176.22, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share.

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,347 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 14,503 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $25,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $531,544. This represents a 34.44% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.22.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1%

YUM stock opened at $155.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $157.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.61. 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 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 firm 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 business's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

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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