Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Banco Santander S.A.

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. has increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 18.9% in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 26,493 shares valued at approximately $4.17 million.
• Insider activity highlighted that CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares for over $1 million, reducing his position by 6.47%.
• Yum! Brands also reported a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%, with a dividend payout ratio of 56.57%.

Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,493 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 4,214 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $38,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased 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, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm's 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 owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $145.41 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.40. The company has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.73.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.86.

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.

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