Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Invests $295,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607,517 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,512,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,883 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $331,831,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $200,668,000. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total transaction of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,089 shares of company stock worth $3,693,505. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5 %

YUM stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $135.18. 2,301,459 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,853,013. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $132.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

About Yum! Brands

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.