Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 11,207 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 109,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 11,207 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $15,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 9.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 448,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,220,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $90,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.3 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $137.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.70 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $134.50 and a 200-day moving average of $134.46.

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 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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital decreased 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. Finally, Bank of America cut 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Yum! Brands

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.