Two spinoffs for post-pandemic gains

Article Excerpt

Yum Brands has jumped 54% since it spun off Yum China in November 2016. That spinoff stock, by the way, has soared 113%! At the time of the split, investors received one share of the new firm for each Yum Brands share they held. We still see plenty of growth ahead for shareholders, particularly as both companies continue to re-open restaurants under easing COVID-19 restrictions. At the same time, the pandemic continues to spur strong demand for their takeout and home delivery services. YUM! BRANDS INC. $95 is a buy. The company (New York symbol YUM; Consumer Sector; Shares outstanding: 301.4 million; Market cap: $28.6 billion; Dividend yield: 2.0%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.yum.com) operates 50,000 restaurants in over 150 countries—64% of those outlets are outside of the U.S. Its main banners are KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food). Excluding Yum China, the company’s sales fell 12.8%, from $6.42 billion in 2015 to $5.60 billion in 2019. That’s because Yum sold most of…