Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 248,284 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,412 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Yum! Brands worth $37,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.3% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,812 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 8,414 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,247,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,363 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $160.38 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $154.79 and its 200-day moving average is $149.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $42,274.92. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.29.

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.