Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands by 54.5% during the first quarter, owning 17,502 shares valued at approximately $2.75 million after selling 20,985 shares.
• In contrast, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings by 151.4%, now owning 156,690 shares worth about $24.65 million.
• Yum! Brands reported Q2 earnings per share of $1.44, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46, with quarterly revenue of $1.93 billion, slightly below analyst expectations.

Synovus Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 54.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,502 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 20,985 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 151.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,657,000 after purchasing an additional 94,355 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $55,564,000 after purchasing an additional 6,673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total value of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,284 shares of company stock worth $4,310,663. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $146.9160 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

About Yum! Brands

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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