Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 59.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.44.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $133.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a PEG 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $135.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

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.