Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,554 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,005 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $10,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,276 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 3,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 9.7 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $143.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.65. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $144.43. The company has a market capitalization of $40.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 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 company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday. 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. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.61.

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.