Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after acquiring an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 18.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after purchasing an additional 7,814 shares during the period. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $138.63 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.47. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $123.70 and a one year high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

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.