DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Raises Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 614,212 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 15,236 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.22% of Yum! Brands worth $83,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 45.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 12,794 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 409.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,061 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,525,000 after purchasing an additional 37,828 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Yum! Brands by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,504 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,228,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $19,041,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,089 shares of company stock worth $3,693,505 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $135.18. 2,301,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,853,013. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $38.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $132.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.99.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

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.