22,996 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Acquired by iSAM Funds UK Ltd

Key Points

• iSAM Funds UK Ltd opened a new position in Yum! Brands by buying 22,996 shares (~$3.50M) in Q3, and institutional ownership is high at 82.37% with major increases from Vanguard, Invesco, Amundi and a new stake from Norges Bank.
• Yum! slightly missed quarterly EPS ($1.73 vs. $1.76) while beating revenue expectations ($2.52B, +6.4% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 ($3.00 annual, ~1.9% yield; 54.1% payout ratio).
• Company insiders sold shares this quarter (CEO sold 12,000 shares), insiders now own 0.33%, and analysts give Yum! a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $174.50 vs. the current price around $160.30.

iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,996 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,495,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $602,551,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $413,382,000 after acquiring an additional 713,167 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 115.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $197,013,000 after acquiring an additional 703,891 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $86,944,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $160.30 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $158.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.85. The company has a market capitalization of $44.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.64.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $47,149.68. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.50.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc NYSE: YUM is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company's principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company's operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.

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