Narrower focus should lift Yum Brands

Article Excerpt

YUM! BRANDS INC. $79 (New York symbol YUM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 337.0 million; Market cap: $26.6 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.yum.com) operates 43,500 restaurants in over 135 countries. Its main banners are KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food). The U.S. accounts for 45% of its sales and earnings. The company’s total sales fell from $13.6 billion in 2012 to $13.1 billion in 2013. Sales then recovered to $13.3 billion in 2014, but slipped again to $13.1 billion in 2015. Spinoff of Chinese operations unlocks value On November 1, 2016, the company spun off its Chinese operations—Yum China Holdings (New York symbol YUMC). Investors received one share of Yum China for each Yum Brands share they held. They won’t have to pay capital gains tax on those shares until they sell them. As a result of the spinoff, Yum Brands’ 2016 sales declined to $6.4 billion, based on…