Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 31.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 110,313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 26,315 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $14,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after buying an additional 5,607,517 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,512,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,883 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $200,668,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,033,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,254,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $163,906,000 after purchasing an additional 649,922 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total transaction of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock worth $13,888,443. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on YUM. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.3 %

YUM opened at $139.92 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.40. The company has a market cap of $39.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.08.

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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.