VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 623,178 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $99,621,000. Yum! Brands comprises approximately 0.6% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15,378.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,142,092 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,212,915,000 after buying an additional 69,688,945 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after acquiring an additional 124,720 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 121,304 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Argus lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $150.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.43 and its 200 day moving average is $155.49. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total value of $41,175.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at $74,054.48. The trade was a 35.73% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company 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.