National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 42.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,779 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 39,171 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $18,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. Loop Capital dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.94.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $138.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,406,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,921,426. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $124.41 and a one year high of $143.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $135.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.45. The stock has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 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 firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS 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 $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.