Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Reduces Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,630,770 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 903,484 shares during the period. Yum! Brands comprises approximately 2.0% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $389,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,367,427,000 after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,216,042 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,217,826,000 after purchasing an additional 218,046 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,306,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $341,841,000 after buying an additional 609,223 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,098,801 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $330,267,000 after buying an additional 53,326 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,063,179 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $305,722,000 after buying an additional 238,615 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total value of $1,074,964.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,413,371.40. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,292. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,538 shares of company stock worth $2,029,594. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $149.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $146.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.33. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.29.

About Yum! Brands

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.