Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 4,705 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 25.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,705 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $156.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $169.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $153.77 and its 200 day moving average is $155.97.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.