Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $40,105.00 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $40,105.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,272,013.44. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 Monday, June 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80.
• On Friday, May 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $160.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 837,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,809. 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 $44.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.19.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after buying an additional 31,836 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $88,030,000 after acquiring an additional 30,075 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,264,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,786,000. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,372,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

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.