ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 9,929 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,929 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.07% of Yum! Brands worth $28,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.8% during the third quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the third quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 3,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 14,138 shares of company stock worth $2,289,990 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $161.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $44.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $160.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.60.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.53.

Yum! Brands 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.