Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans Sells 24,332 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total value of $3,627,901.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5%

YUM stock opened at $148.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.29. The company has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. TD Cowen upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Yum! Brands to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,573 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Yum! Brands by 175.9% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,485 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 7,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 144.7% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 8,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,264 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.