Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $151.08 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.93. The firm has a market cap of $42.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $151.29.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.37.

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.