Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $8.64 Million Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 140.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $984,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $134.73 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.76 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.43 and a 200-day moving average of $134.47.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.94.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.