Procyon Advisors LLC Increases Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 63.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,764 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,557,612 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,120,747,000 after buying an additional 448,393 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,131,263 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,945,791,000 after acquiring an additional 297,641 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,216,042 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,217,826,000 after acquiring an additional 218,046 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $602,551,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,844,806 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $569,723,000 after purchasing an additional 40,757 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 64 shares in the company, valued at $9,559.68. This represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $160.90 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $124.58 and a one year high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $44.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.28.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. TD Cowen raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.15.

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.