Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 221,878 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,301 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $32,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 109,617 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,249,000 after purchasing an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 197,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000,000 after purchasing an additional 11,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 254.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 242,668 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $38,186,000 after purchasing an additional 174,280 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $154.06 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.45. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Yum! Brands to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $157.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $162.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,870 shares of company stock valued at $5,657,495. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.