Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Aaron Powell Sells 2,790 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) 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 value of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,292. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:YUM opened at $149.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.30. The stock has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 55.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $602,551,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,382,000 after buying an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 115.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $197,013,000 after buying an additional 703,891 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $97,453,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.