Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Acquired by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 438,050 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 39,810 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.16% of Yum! Brands worth $58,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:YUM traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $126.20. 2,493,920 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,008,948. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $133.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.60. The company has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $144.89.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.