ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 10,282 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $18,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $133.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.28 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.27.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,326.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,673 shares of company stock valued at $13,918,095. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.56.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.