Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Stake Lifted by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 206,965 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $31,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 7.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,414 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,695 shares of company stock worth $4,582,843. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $157.09 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.19. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.53 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 17.95%.The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.15.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.