Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 100.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,551 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $126,945,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,944,000. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,459,940,000 after acquiring an additional 487,069 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.22.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple earnings estimates for Yum! Brands, including FY2026, FY2027, and FY2028, signaling improved profit expectations and a potentially stronger forward outlook for the restaurant operator.
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reinforcing its capital-return profile and offering income support for shareholders.
• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands’ India franchisee reported stronger operating trends, including a narrower loss and higher profit in FY24, which may suggest solid underlying demand for KFC and related brands in key international markets. Article: Yum Brands’ India franchisee posts narrower loss on KFC sales upswing
• Neutral Sentiment: RestaurantBusiness Online highlighted leadership lessons and brand-building at Yum! Brands, but the piece appears more informational than market-moving. Article: Operator Spotlight – Building Brands Over Time: Leadership Lessons from Yum! Brands
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketWatch noted that Yum! Brands stock underperformed peers, which suggests some near-term relative weakness but does not by itself indicate a major fundamental shift. Article: Yum! Brands Inc. stock underperforms Wednesday when compared to competitors
• Negative Sentiment: COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares in a pre-arranged 10b5-1 transaction, a disclosure that can create a modest headwind for sentiment even though it was not a discretionary sale.
• Negative Sentiment: The pizza restaurant sector has been facing cost and demand pressure, highlighted by another chain’s Chapter 11 filing; while not specific to Yum!, it underscores broader industry caution for restaurant investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $150.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.00. The company has a market cap of $41.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

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.