Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Holdings Boosted by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $10,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $130.03. 2,319,390 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,002,811. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $137.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.09.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 47.52%.

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

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.