Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 393,633 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,516 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $59,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum! Brands may sell Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital have boosted the “sum-of-the-parts” thesis, suggesting Yum could use proceeds to reduce debt and concentrate on higher-growth brands. Slice of the Pie: Why Yum’s Deal Lifts QSR
• Positive Sentiment: One analyst said Yum still has strong growth potential among franchised restaurant companies and argued the stock may not fully reflect those strengths yet. Yum! Brands Keeps Growing. Why the Stock Price Will Follow.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC launched a Supergirl-themed summer promotion with limited-edition meals, sauces, and collectibles, which could help near-term traffic and brand buzz. Supergirl Summer Takes Off at KFC® with New Supergirl Ultimate Meal, Character-Inspired Sauce Showdowns and Must-Have Limited-Edition Collectibles
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum announced COO and Chief People & Culture Officer Tracy Skeans will retire after more than 25 years, but she will stay on through year-end in an advisory role, which suggests an orderly transition. Yum! Brands Announces Retirement of Tracy Skeans, Chief Operating Officer and Chief People & Culture Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Yum as a defensive diversification idea outside the AI trade, which may support investor attention but is not a fundamental catalyst by itself. Jim Cramer says look to buy these 5 stocks outside the AI trade for diversification
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Scott Mezvinsky disclosed a small stock sale under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which is routine but can still weigh on sentiment when paired with other headlines. SEC Form 4 filing

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.42 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.64.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.