Monument Capital Management Has $207,000 Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Monument Capital Management lowered its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,491 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,596,000 after purchasing an additional 198,069 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,124 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $381,000. American National Bank grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 23,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,160,066.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $129.52 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $36.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.12 and a 200-day moving average of $135.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on YUM shares. Guggenheim increased their price target 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 started coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.33.

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.