Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stock Holdings Trimmed by Sustainable Growth Advisers LP

Key Points

• Sustainable Growth Advisers LP cut its Yum! Brands stake by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 2.5 million shares valued at about $377.8 million, making YUM its 15th-largest holding.
• Yum! Brands reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.50 versus $1.39 expected and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 15.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 2.0%, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $175.89.

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,497,429 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 237,677 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands makes up about 2.6% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP owned approximately 0.90% of Yum! Brands worth $377,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 430,416 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $65,423,000 after purchasing an additional 10,632 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,786,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $88,030,000 after purchasing an additional 30,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,372,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,364 shares of company stock valued at $827,837. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, May 1st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $175.89.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $147.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

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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