ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 9,873 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. has increased its stake in Yum! Brands, purchasing an additional 9,873 shares, bringing its total ownership to 163,530 shares valued at approximately $24.2 million.
• Yum! Brands reported a net margin of 18.11% for the latest quarter, with earnings of $1.44 per share, missing analysts' expectations.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, yielding 1.9% annually, with a dividend payout ratio of 56.02%.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,530 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 9,873 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $24,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE YUM opened at $150.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.28.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on YUM shares. Melius started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.59, for a total value of $41,962.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $267,795.45. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,195 shares of company stock valued at $5,348,137. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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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