V Square Quantitative Management LLC Grows Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,735 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 153,431 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,436,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,957 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 26,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,748,000 after buying an additional 3,301 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.2% during the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 135,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,896,000 after buying an additional 10,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 9.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $148.92 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The company has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.30.

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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.