Weiss Asset Management LP Acquires Shares of 29,300 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 29,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,094,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $137.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $123.70 and a one year high of $143.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.50 and its 200-day moving average is $134.51.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Twelve equities research 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands 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.