Cantillon Capital Management LLC Purchases 452,339 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 31.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $252,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 649.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $156.43 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $156.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $136.39 and its 200 day moving average is $135.60. The company has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.32.

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.