CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,815 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. WBH Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 14,063 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,887,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $232,000. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,146,000. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,422 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $147.27 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $149.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $133.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.64. The company has a market cap of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.