Acadian Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 7,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.8% during the second quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 11,093 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 12,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 6.5% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,991 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 23,148 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,066,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $132.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $133.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.68. The firm has a market cap of $37.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.25.

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.