Clarius Group LLC Has $241,000 Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Clarius Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE YUM opened at $134.02 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $37.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.36.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 49.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.25.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 transaction of $974,956.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $21,275,158.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.