Ervin Investment Management LLC Sells 190 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ervin Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,172 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands comprises about 1.1% of Ervin Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ervin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $331,831,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,914,257,000 after acquiring an additional 678,659 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,254,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $163,906,000 after acquiring an additional 649,922 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,592,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $208,045,000 after acquiring an additional 570,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Yum! Brands by 129.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 769,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,147,000 after purchasing an additional 434,284 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $132.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 618,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,731. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.00. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total transaction of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,596,900.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. Company 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.