Cullinan Associates Inc. Acquires 507 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,811 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 151.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,657,000 after buying an additional 94,355 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,564,000 after buying an additional 6,673 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,195 shares of company stock worth $5,348,137. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.32.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $150.61 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 market cap of $41.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.13.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.