Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $40,120.00 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO stock sale: Yum! Brands CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares on May 1 for about $40,120 ($160.48/share) under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, leaving him with 64,552 shares (a 0.39% ownership reduction).
• Q1 results beat expectations: Yum reported $1.50 EPS vs. $1.39 consensus and $2.06B revenue (up 15.2% year-over-year), with record digital sales (~63% of system sales) and Taco Bell driving same-store sales growth.
• Dividend raised: Yum increased its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (from $0.71), implying a $3.00 annualized payout and a ~1.9% yield, with a payout ratio near 54%.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher Lee Turner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 26th, Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $40,176.84.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:YUM traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $157.96. 493,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,528. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.46. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $169.39. The company has a market capitalization of $43.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUM. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.83.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 339.2% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,461 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 4,990 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 19,756 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.6% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,470 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,494,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 22.4% in the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 2,369 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: Yum reported $1.50 EPS (vs. ~$1.38 consensus) and revenue of $2.06B, with adjusted profit rising sharply (reported ~71% year-over-year). Digital sales were a record ~63% of system sales (near $11B), highlighting strong margin and delivery gains. YUM Q1 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell continues to drive growth: same-store sales up ~8% in Q1; CEO Christopher Turner cites a resonating loyalty program that is boosting frequency and digital engagement—a clear growth lever for the portfolio. Taco Bell loyalty and digital sales
• Positive Sentiment: Global expansion momentum: KFC-led international growth and steady unit openings (over 1,000 new units in the fiscal start) are supporting system sales and earnings leverage. QSRWeb on KFC growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts nudged targets higher: Citi raised its price target to $175 (neutral) and Wells Fargo to $165 (equal weight), reflecting upside to current levels and showing institutional acknowledgment of the beat and growth drivers. Benzinga analyst updates
• Neutral Sentiment: New growth initiatives: Yum is investing in AI menu boards, beverage innovation and menu modernization to drive next-phase sales and ticket growth; these are longer-term catalysts rather than immediate EPS drivers. Restaurant Dive on AI/menu innovation
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed brand performance: Taco Bell is the clear outperformer while Pizza Hut shows more modest results, leaving overall upside somewhat concentrated in a single brand. Investors should watch brand-level comps. Seeking Alpha on brand mix
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term sell-the-news and low liquidity: the stock traded lower today on light volume (well under its average), suggesting profit-taking despite the beat. Also note a flagged negative return on equity in company filings, which can concern value- and ROE-focused investors.

Yum! Brands Company 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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