Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans Sells 1,837 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:YUM opened at $150.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.00. The company has a market cap of $41.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Steph & Co. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $29,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.22.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple earnings estimates for Yum! Brands, including FY2026, FY2027, and FY2028, signaling improved profit expectations and a potentially stronger forward outlook for the restaurant operator.
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reinforcing its capital-return profile and offering income support for shareholders.
• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands’ India franchisee reported stronger operating trends, including a narrower loss and higher profit in FY24, which may suggest solid underlying demand for KFC and related brands in key international markets. Article: Yum Brands’ India franchisee posts narrower loss on KFC sales upswing
• Neutral Sentiment: RestaurantBusiness Online highlighted leadership lessons and brand-building at Yum! Brands, but the piece appears more informational than market-moving. Article: Operator Spotlight – Building Brands Over Time: Leadership Lessons from Yum! Brands
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketWatch noted that Yum! Brands stock underperformed peers, which suggests some near-term relative weakness but does not by itself indicate a major fundamental shift. Article: Yum! Brands Inc. stock underperforms Wednesday when compared to competitors
• Negative Sentiment: COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares in a pre-arranged 10b5-1 transaction, a disclosure that can create a modest headwind for sentiment even though it was not a discretionary sale.
• Negative Sentiment: The pizza restaurant sector has been facing cost and demand pressure, highlighted by another chain’s Chapter 11 filing; while not specific to Yum!, it underscores broader industry caution for restaurant investors.

About Yum! Brands

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.