Westpac Banking Corp Raises Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Yum! Brands by 12.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,153 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,821 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 55,799 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 51.5% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 9,414 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $158.13 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.79.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,329.20. This represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.