Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $39,997.80 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christopher Lee Turner also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 1st, Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $148.03 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $40.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.63.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum! Brands may sell Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital have fueled a “sum-of-the-parts” narrative, potentially improving valuation by letting Yum focus on its stronger brands and use proceeds to strengthen the balance sheet. Pizza Hut Sale: Yum Brands In Talks With LongRange Capital
• Positive Sentiment: Yum’s push to use AI and data science to forecast customer cravings across Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill highlights efforts to improve menu innovation and long-term growth. Exclusive: Inside Yum’s effort to predict what customers will crave next
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum! Brands COO Tracy Skeans announced plans to retire after 25 years, but the company says she will stay on as an advisor through year-end, suggesting an orderly transition. Yum Brands COO to retire after 25 years
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum! Brands also drew attention after a strong trading session and continued analyst support following its recent earnings beat, which showed better-than-expected EPS and revenue growth. Yum! Brands Inc. stock outperforms competitors on strong trading day
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Scott Mezvinsky’s recent insider share sale under a pre-arranged trading plan may weigh slightly on sentiment, even though the transaction was routine. Yum! Brands Keeps Growing. Why the Stock Price Will Follow.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

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.