334,683 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Purchased by Freestone Grove Partners LP

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased 334,683 Yum! Brands shares worth approximately $53.5 million, giving it a 0.12% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Yum! Brands beat quarterly EPS expectations with $1.62 versus $1.58 forecast, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The board also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $174.65; Robert W. Baird recently upgraded the stock to “strong buy.” YUM opened at $154.74, below its 52-week high of $170.14.

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 334,683 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $53,502,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned 0.12% of Yum! Brands as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the second quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird upgraded YUM to “strong buy,” providing a bullish counterpoint to other recent rating changes. Analyst ratings and beef tariff article
• Positive Sentiment: A temporary 90-day waiver on beef import tariffs could reduce input costs for fast-food operators, potentially benefiting Yum!’s KFC and Taco Bell businesses, although the impact may be limited and temporary. Beef tariff waiver article
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched a football-season marketing campaign with Pepsi and Josh Allen, alongside promotional meal deals, which could support near-term customer traffic and sales. Pizza Hut football campaign

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $154.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $153.47 and a 200-day moving average of $155.91.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Yum! Brands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.65.

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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