Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Sold by Ervin Investment Management LLC

Ervin Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,172 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Yum! Brands makes up approximately 1.1% of Ervin Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ervin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,058,156,000 after purchasing an additional 373,232 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,914,257,000 after purchasing an additional 678,659 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $331,831,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,592,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $208,045,000 after purchasing an additional 570,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,555,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $203,178,000 after purchasing an additional 33,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $132.15. The stock had a trading volume of 618,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,731. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm 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 earned $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.