Avanza Fonder AB Takes $2.96 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 22,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $125.31 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $134.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.63.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.24.

Yum! Brands 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.