Cullen Investment Group LTD. Reduces Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. lowered its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,798 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $984,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $124.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm 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 prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.24.

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.