Scott Mezvinsky Sells 1,612 Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, December 1st, Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of Yum! Brands stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $42,274.92.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.4%

YUM traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $159.96. 406,899 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,086,091. The firm has a market cap of $44.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $154.79 and a 200 day moving average of $149.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The business had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.8% during the third quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.