49,474 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management cut its Yum! Brands position by 47.7%, selling 49,474 shares and retaining 54,333 shares valued at $8.69 million. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of YUM.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, exceeding estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share.
• YUM shares opened at $137.36, near their 52-week low, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $174.67. Recent developments include KFC testing an expanded “Open House” restaurant concept, although Argus Research downgraded the stock to Hold over growth concerns.

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 47.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,333 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 49,474 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its position in Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,416,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.5% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $137.36 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.26 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $148.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.42.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: KFC is testing the Open House restaurant concept in McKinney, Texas, with expanded offerings including breakfast, updated store design, value-focused products and a stronger hospitality emphasis. Management hopes to identify ideas that can be deployed across more than 3,500 U.S. KFC locations, creating a potential long-term sales and traffic opportunity. KFC debuts Open House restaurant in Texas to test new customer experiences
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s move of approximately 550 employees to Louisville’s PNC Tower is primarily a corporate real-estate and workplace development initiative, with limited near-term impact on earnings. Yum Brands adding logo to top of PNC Tower as it prepares to move 550 employees
• Neutral Sentiment: A review of Yum! Brands against other traditional fast-food companies places the focus on relative quarterly performance and operating trends. Investors are using the comparison to assess whether YUM’s valuation and growth profile remain competitive, though the available report summary does not identify a specific peer-driven advantage or disadvantage. Q2 Rundown: Yum! Brands Vs Other Traditional Fast Food Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Argus Research downgraded YUM to Hold from Buy and warned that the company faces headwinds in meeting its growth objectives. The action reinforces concerns that a previously dependable growth model may be entering a more difficult period. Argus Research downgrades Yum! Brands to Hold from Buy

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company's restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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