Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $47,149.68 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $47,149.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 13th, Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56.
• On Monday, December 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $42,274.92.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.4%

YUM opened at $168.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $157.38 and its 200 day moving average is $151.08. The company has a market cap of $46.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on YUM. Citigroup upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.50.

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.