Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 14,032 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $17,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,445,000 after acquiring an additional 178,612 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 147,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after buying an additional 73,844 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.5 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $132.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.76 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.38.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.