Scott Mezvinsky Sells 277 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Thursday, February 26th, Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $47,149.68.
• On Friday, February 13th, Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $158.17 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.77 and a 200-day moving average of $154.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its 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 company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 695,059 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,649,000 after acquiring an additional 8,888 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 347,395 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $52,804,000 after purchasing an additional 57,112 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 11,532 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 430,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,423,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,786,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and margin upside — Yum reported Q1 EPS of $1.50 (above estimates) with revenue up ~15% and a large profit jump; digital sales reached a record (~63% of system sales), supporting better-than-expected fundamentals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell strength and improving visibility — Analysts (Morgan Stanley coverage cited) highlight Taco Bell’s continued comp strength and loyalty/digital engagement gains as drivers of near-term visibility and growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC global expansion and delivery gains — Management and industry write-ups point to KFC fueling international growth, helping the company’s top-line and margin mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target moves are modestly supportive but ratings remain conservative — Citi and Wells Fargo raised price targets slightly but maintain neutral/equal-weight ratings, limiting immediate bullish catalyst strength. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales executed under 10b5‑1 plans — CEO Scott Mezvinsky and CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold shares (pre-arranged plans); such filings can create near-term selling pressure but are less informative about company fundamentals. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Pizza Hut lagging — Coverage highlights Pizza Hut’s continued underperformance, which can blunt overall company upside and keep investors cautious until a clearer turnaround is visible. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.06.

About Yum! Brands

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.