Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,273 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 713 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $274,000. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $130.04. 719,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,971,441. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.94. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,552,727. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.