Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management cut its stake in Yum! Brands by 46.6% in Q3, selling 12,260 shares and leaving 14,072 shares valued at about $2.14M, while institutional investors own roughly 82.37% of the stock.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently: CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares for about $1.94M, and insiders sold a total of 14,138 shares (~$2.29M) in the past 90 days.
• Yum! raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (annualized $3.00, ~1.9% yield); the most recent quarter showed an EPS miss ($1.73 vs. $1.76 estimate) but a revenue beat ($2.52B vs. $2.45B), and analysts' consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $174.50.

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,072 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 12,260 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,727 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,937 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $987,000. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 9,984 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.2% in the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,574 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock worth $2,289,990. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:YUM opened at $158.97 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $157.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.38. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $43.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.64.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Oppenheimer cut Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

Yum! Brands Company 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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