SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 29,617 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 387.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 29,617 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $602,551,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,382,000 after purchasing an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $197,013,000 after buying an additional 703,891 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 35.9% during 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2,288.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 502,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,426,000 after buying an additional 481,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.15.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target on Yum! to $179, signaling conviction in upside vs. the current trading range and providing tangible valuation support. Barclays Increases Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $179.00
• Positive Sentiment: Gordon Haskett upgraded YUM from hold to buy, adding buying momentum from the sell-side and reinforcing investor confidence. Gordon Haskett upgrades Yum! Brands (YUM)
• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating, which supports demand from investors who follow benchmark research. Sanford Bernstein reaffirms overweight
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights Yum!’s multi-year shareholder returns (about a 9.0% CAGR over five years), which can attract long-term investors and supports valuation stability. Yum! Brands shareholders have earned a 9.0% CAGR over the last five years
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus remains constructive overall (consensus “Moderate Buy”), but it points to mixed analyst views and moderate upside rather than a unanimous bullish case. Yum! Brands Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Several write-ups describe analyst sentiment as “cautiously optimistic” amid leadership changes — this tempers enthusiasm and suggests the stock could see increased volatility while investors wait for clarity. Cautiously Optimistic Analyst Sentiment on Yum! Brands (YUM) Amid Leadership Changes
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital issued a “hold,” which may cap near-term upside from investors who follow that shop. Yum! Brands Gets a Hold from BMO Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Oppenheimer downgraded Yum!, introducing sell-side downside pressure and signaling that some analysts see execution or leadership risks that could weigh on growth expectations. Oppenheimer downgrades Yum! Brands (YUM)

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $42,274.92. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.4%

YUM opened at $155.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.67. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.00.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results 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 21.79% and a net margin of 17.95%.The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.