IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 3,407 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $150.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.68 and a 200-day moving average of $144.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. The trade was a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,742 shares of company stock valued at $1,861,504 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUM. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Redburn Atlantic raised Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.86.

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.