Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Short Interest Up 16,290.7% in July

Key Points

• Yum! Brands saw a significant increase in **short interest** in July, rising by **16,290.7%** to a total of **4,950,000 shares** as of July 15th, indicating a potential bearish outlook from investors.
• Brokerages have issued mixed ratings on Yum! Brands, with **JPMorgan** and **Goldman Sachs** upgrading their ratings while others have set target prices ranging from **$162.00 to $200.00**.
• Insider sales have also occurred, with CEO **Scott Mezvinsky** selling **272 shares** at an average price of **$148.28**, and CEO **David W. Gibbs** selling **7,117 shares** at **$146.60**, reflecting a decrease in their ownership stake.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,950,000 shares, anincreaseof16,290.7% from the June 30th total of 30,200 shares. Approximately1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 28th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,720 shares of company stock worth $2,150,965. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,021,194,000 after buying an additional 163,462 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $475,714,000 after buying an additional 601,361 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $338,296,000 after buying an additional 24,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.9%

YUM stock traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $145.41. 1,930,681 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,127,953. The company has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $145.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.12. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Yum! Brands's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.

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