Aberdeen Group plc Buys 11,465 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 249,909 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,465 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $37,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,015 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 135.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $396,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $141.53 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.04 and a 200 day moving average of $146.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 56.02%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.59, for a total transaction of $41,962.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $267,795.45. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,195 shares of company stock valued at $5,348,137 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.48.

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.