Christopher Lee Turner Sells 261 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at $9,766,528.65. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher Lee Turner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $40,105.00.
• On Monday, June 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM traded down $4.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $148.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,847,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,995. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.74%.

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

Yum! Brands News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell attributed strong digital-sales growth to its loyalty program and plans to introduce a redesigned app in the third quarter. The initiative could improve customer engagement, ordering frequency and sales recovery. Taco Bell credits its loyalty program for digital sales growth
• Positive Sentiment: Fundsmith’s investment commentary highlighted Yum!’s rapid international expansion as a long-term growth driver, supporting the case for continued unit growth and geographic diversification. Yum! Brands: Rapid Global Expansion Drives Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage examined what Yum! Brands could look like without Pizza Hut, raising questions about the strategic and financial implications of a potential separation. The article does not indicate that a transaction has been announced. What does a Pizza Hut-less Yum Brands look like?
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares for approximately $40,000, while CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares for about $41,000. Both trades were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as a discretionary bearish signal. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: The Taco Bell cyclospora outbreak has reportedly hurt sales and customer traffic, with rising concern about brand damage and the potential impact on Yum!’s financial results. Market anxiety intensified after reports linked the outbreak to additional deaths in Michigan. Sweetgreen drops as Yum falls amid cyclospora concerns

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.