Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,262 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $31,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,766 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 70.8% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 4,499 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $7,645,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Yum! Brands by 31.3% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 110,313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,612,000 after acquiring an additional 26,315 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.8% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE YUM opened at $128.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.51.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.89.

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.