Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Has $446,000 Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,058,156,000 after buying an additional 373,232 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,914,257,000 after purchasing an additional 678,659 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $409,596,000 after purchasing an additional 124,080 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $331,831,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,592,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $208,045,000 after purchasing an additional 570,263 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $134.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during 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%. The business’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 posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders 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 2.00%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080 over the last three months. 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.