Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky Sells 268 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $41,044.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $73,971.45. This represents a 35.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Scott Mezvinsky also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34.
• On Monday, June 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $38,664.54.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.9%

YUM traded down $4.38 on Monday, hitting $148.90. 2,847,500 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,093,995. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $41.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $153.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Steph & Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell attributed strong digital-sales growth to its loyalty program and plans to introduce a redesigned app in the third quarter. The initiative could improve customer engagement, ordering frequency and sales recovery. Taco Bell credits its loyalty program for digital sales growth
• Positive Sentiment: Fundsmith’s investment commentary highlighted Yum!’s rapid international expansion as a long-term growth driver, supporting the case for continued unit growth and geographic diversification. Yum! Brands: Rapid Global Expansion Drives Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage examined what Yum! Brands could look like without Pizza Hut, raising questions about the strategic and financial implications of a potential separation. The article does not indicate that a transaction has been announced. What does a Pizza Hut-less Yum Brands look like?
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares for approximately $40,000, while CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares for about $41,000. Both trades were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their significance as a discretionary bearish signal. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: The Taco Bell cyclospora outbreak has reportedly hurt sales and customer traffic, with rising concern about brand damage and the potential impact on Yum!’s financial results. Market anxiety intensified after reports linked the outbreak to additional deaths in Michigan. Sweetgreen drops as Yum falls amid cyclospora concerns

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.94.

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.