Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $31.05 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 51.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 199,730 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 67,950 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $31,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business’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 $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $164.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $153.76 and a 200-day moving average of $156.38. The stock has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.