NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,372 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $15,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,022,648,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607,517 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,883 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,033,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,939,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $823,534,000 after purchasing an additional 121,285 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUM. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $145.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,326.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,673 shares of company stock valued at $13,918,095. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $133.04. The company had a trading volume of 956,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,936,955. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.28 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $37.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $134.74 and a 200-day moving average of $135.09.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands 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.