Teacher Retirement System of Texas Trims Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its Yum! Brands stake by 42.5%, selling 79,389 shares and leaving 107,386 shares valued at about $16.25 million at quarter-end.
• Insiders sold 14,138 shares last quarter — including CEO Aaron Powell's sale of 12,000 shares — totaling roughly $2.29 million, with insiders now holding about 0.14% of the stock.
• Yum! reported $1.73 EPS (missing the $1.76 estimate) with revenue up 6.4% year-over-year, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (annualized $3.00, ~1.9% yield).

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,386 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 79,389 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $16,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $160.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.09. The firm has a market cap of $44.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.66. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.50.

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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