Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Sells $32,990.49 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 241 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.89, for a total transaction of $32,990.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,980.98. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $41,044.20.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $136.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.26 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Steph & Co. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.11.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, which specializes in fried and cooked chicken; Taco Bell, known for Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which offers pizza and related products; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain focused on chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.

The company primarily uses a franchised business model, working with franchisees and licensees to operate restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories.