Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 140.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $16,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,161 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 17.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,030 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.7% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Yum! Brands by 0.7% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 38,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 9.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 29,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $130.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $133.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.43. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given 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 2.06%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Yum! Brands Company 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.