Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky Sells 1,612 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $42,274.92.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE YUM opened at $161.20 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $165.32. The company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $155.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.86.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 51.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 4,461.7% in the 4th quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 190,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,763,000 after acquiring an additional 185,962 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $28,849,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 167,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,304,000 after purchasing an additional 48,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 74,584 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,283,000 after purchasing an additional 6,959 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.00.

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.