Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 75.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,229 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $52,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at $40,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $137.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.24. The company has a market capitalization of $38.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.