Allianz Asset Management GmbH Grows Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 8.8%, acquiring an additional 4,047 shares and holding a total of 49,887 shares valued at $7.85 million.
• Insider transactions show CEO Scott Mezvinsky and CEO David W. Gibbs sold shares, reducing their ownership by 13.42% and 6.47% respectively, with over 14,720 shares sold by insiders in the last ninety days.
• Yum! Brands recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, with an annual yield of 1.97% and a payout ratio of 56.57%.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,887 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 4,047 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded down $0.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $146.60. 604,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,115,088. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $145.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.98.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $260,231.40. The trade was a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Company 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.