Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,208,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $137.84. 2,178,745 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,673. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Yum! Brands's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands 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 owns 18,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays lowered their target price 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 cut Yum! Brands from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.