American International Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

American International Group Inc. lowered its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 452 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $11,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eleven equities 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $136.79 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $138.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at $23,160,066.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,454 shares of company stock valued at $3,656,748 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.