Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stock Holdings Lessened by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 10.9%, owning 26,797 shares valued at around $4.2 million after selling 3,289 shares.
• Yum! Brands recently reported earnings of $1.44 per share, missing estimates, with revenue of $1.93 billion; a 9.6% year-over-year revenue increase was noted.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 56.02%.

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,797 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,289 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 151.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,657,000 after buying an additional 94,355 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $149.49 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $146.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.98. The company has a market cap of $41.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.73. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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