Composition Wealth LLC Purchases 22,287 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Composition Wealth LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1,081.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,287 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $158.17 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $159.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.56. The firm has a market cap of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 14,665 shares of company stock worth $2,374,563 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and margin upside — Yum reported Q1 EPS of $1.50 (above estimates) with revenue up ~15% and a large profit jump; digital sales reached a record (~63% of system sales), supporting better-than-expected fundamentals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell strength and improving visibility — Analysts (Morgan Stanley coverage cited) highlight Taco Bell’s continued comp strength and loyalty/digital engagement gains as drivers of near-term visibility and growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC global expansion and delivery gains — Management and industry write-ups point to KFC fueling international growth, helping the company’s top-line and margin mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target moves are modestly supportive but ratings remain conservative — Citi and Wells Fargo raised price targets slightly but maintain neutral/equal-weight ratings, limiting immediate bullish catalyst strength. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales executed under 10b5‑1 plans — CEO Scott Mezvinsky and CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold shares (pre-arranged plans); such filings can create near-term selling pressure but are less informative about company fundamentals. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Pizza Hut lagging — Coverage highlights Pizza Hut’s continued underperformance, which can blunt overall company upside and keep investors cautious until a clearer turnaround is visible. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. 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 note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.06.

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.