NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Decreases Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC decreased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 113,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $15,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of YUM traded down $2.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $125.06. 807,947 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,792,161. The company has a market capitalization of $34.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.68 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $135.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.90.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.61.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.