Scott Mezvinsky Sells 277 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, June 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $38,664.54.
• On Friday, May 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $160.50. The stock had a trading volume of 837,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,809. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sapient Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.8% during the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 4,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 60,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,355,000 after acquiring an additional 21,637 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

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.