Naples Money Management LLC Acquires New Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 22,079 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,607 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $138.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.17. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.24. The stock has a market cap of $38.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

About Yum! Brands

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.