Southland Equity Partners LLC Acquires 1,169 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 26.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 222.8% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,146 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,926 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $127.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.55. The company has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

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.