Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 339,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,834 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $52,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after acquiring an additional 31,836 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $88,030,000 after purchasing an additional 30,075 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $1,264,000. Ethos Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $1,372,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reiterated its upcoming second-quarter earnings schedule, keeping attention on potential bottom-line improvement when results are released later this month. Yum! Brands Announces Q2 2026 Earnings and Conference Call Details
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts expect the Taco Bell lettuce scare to have a limited long-term impact, suggesting the stock could stabilize once the contamination issue is contained. The cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taco Bell is hitting some restaurant stocks, but don’t expect a long-term impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on what Yum! Brands’ next quarterly report may show, with commentary pointing to expected earnings growth for the quarter. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Negative Sentiment: Authorities linked Taco Bell’s shredded iceberg lettuce supplier to the cyclosporiasis outbreak, which could hurt Taco Bell sales, trigger cleanup costs, and create reputational risk for Yum! Brands. Sweetgreen Pares 26% Drop as Parasite Tied to Taco Bell Lettuce
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell has already removed the affected shredded lettuce in some states after government warnings, reinforcing concern that the outbreak may disrupt operations and consumer traffic in the near term. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $147.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.85. The stock has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% 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 sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.81.

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.