ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,785 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $7,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $126,945,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after purchasing an additional 684,946 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $86,944,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,459,940,000 after buying an additional 487,069 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1%

YUM opened at $154.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.46. The company has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $185.00 price target on Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at $10,359,304.96. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock worth $451,123 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.