Howland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Howland Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 123,901 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 13,107 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $16,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 4,602 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $157,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $1,721,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,811 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total transaction of $485,312.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at $7,406,963.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,756 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.21, for a total transaction of $485,312.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,406,963.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,742 shares of company stock worth $2,734,628. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $2.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $136.28. 2,635,935 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,952,527. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $135.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.18.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.94%.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.