Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,633 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,516 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Yum! Brands worth $59,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays set a $185.00 price target on Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $148.42 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.64. The company has a market cap of $40.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Yum! Brands may sell Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital have boosted the “sum-of-the-parts” thesis, suggesting Yum could use proceeds to reduce debt and concentrate on higher-growth brands. Slice of the Pie: Why Yum’s Deal Lifts QSR
• Positive Sentiment: One analyst said Yum still has strong growth potential among franchised restaurant companies and argued the stock may not fully reflect those strengths yet. Yum! Brands Keeps Growing. Why the Stock Price Will Follow.
• Positive Sentiment: KFC launched a Supergirl-themed summer promotion with limited-edition meals, sauces, and collectibles, which could help near-term traffic and brand buzz. Supergirl Summer Takes Off at KFC® with New Supergirl Ultimate Meal, Character-Inspired Sauce Showdowns and Must-Have Limited-Edition Collectibles
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum announced COO and Chief People & Culture Officer Tracy Skeans will retire after more than 25 years, but she will stay on through year-end in an advisory role, which suggests an orderly transition. Yum! Brands Announces Retirement of Tracy Skeans, Chief Operating Officer and Chief People & Culture Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Yum as a defensive diversification idea outside the AI trade, which may support investor attention but is not a fundamental catalyst by itself. Jim Cramer says look to buy these 5 stocks outside the AI trade for diversification
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Scott Mezvinsky disclosed a small stock sale under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which is routine but can still weigh on sentiment when paired with other headlines. SEC Form 4 filing

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $38,664.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,551.62. The trade was a 35.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands 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.