27,817 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Bought by OP Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter, purchasing 27,817 shares valued at about $4.33 million.
• Yum! Brands reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 beating estimates and revenue of $2.06 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year.
• The company recently approved a $4 billion stock repurchase plan and paid a $0.75 quarterly dividend, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 1.9%.

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 27,817 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $4,325,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $86,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,836 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $88,030,000 after buying an additional 30,075 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $1,264,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $24,786,000. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $1,372,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $156.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $153.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.88. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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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