Great West Life Assurance Co. Can Reduces Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can reduced its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,675 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,762 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned approximately 0.11% of Yum! Brands worth $43,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. HighMark Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 108.0% in the 2nd quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 303.5% during the second quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 80.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of YUM opened at $128.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $35.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.04. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.27.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.32% and a negative return on equity of 17.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 28th will be given a $0.605 dividend. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.55, for a total transaction of $412,247.85. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at $6,738,553.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.23, for a total value of $499,198.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,522,759.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,507 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.55, for a total value of $412,247.85. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,738,553.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,638 shares of company stock worth $2,603,751. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $173.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $136.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.21.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through four segments: the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division. It 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.