XTX Topco Ltd Acquires 14,446 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd has increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 49.5%, acquiring a total of 43,603 shares, which now represents approximately 0.4% of its portfolio.
• Yum! Brands reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analyst estimates of $1.29, despite a revenue of $1.79 billion which was below expectations.
• The company's last quarterly dividend was $0.71 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.97% and a payout ratio of 56.57%.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 49.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,603 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 14,446 shares during the period. Yum! Brands comprises about 0.4% of XTX Topco Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $38,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $47,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Melius began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $40,332.16. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.9%

Yum! Brands stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $145.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,930,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,268. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.12. The company has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

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.