Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 199,869 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 49,184 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.07% of Yum! Brands worth $31,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $148.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.56. The company's 50 day moving average price is $154.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.71. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $40,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,272,013.44. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands 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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