Albion Financial Group UT Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $76,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $126.20 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $133.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.60. The company has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.