Amundi Purchases 85,271 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Yum! Brands stake by 14.1% in the first quarter, acquiring 85,271 additional shares and ending with 688,797 shares valued at approximately $107.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, beating estimates of $1.58, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company also pays a $0.75 quarterly dividend and authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on YUM, with an average price target of $174.94 versus the reported share price of $153.21; shares were down 2.4%.

Amundi increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 688,797 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 85,271 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.25% of Yum! Brands worth $107,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $706,799,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $632,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,777 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $168,604,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $153.21 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $153.94 and its 200-day moving average is $156.71. The stock has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 11,896 shares of company stock worth $1,869,148 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS was $1.62, above the $1.58–$1.59 analyst consensus, while revenue increased 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. Net income surged 128% to $853 million, supported by higher sales, strong Taco Bell performance and improved restaurant-level margins. Yum! Brands Reports Second-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut’s planned $2.7 billion sale could sharpen Yum’s focus. Management is exiting the weaker-performing Pizza Hut business and intends to concentrate capital and resources on KFC, Taco Bell and its other growth brands. Yum also outlined a KFC transformation strategy spanning its 20 largest markets through the end of 2027. Yum outlines Pizza Hut sale for $2.7B
• Positive Sentiment: Loyalty and digital initiatives remain growth drivers. Taco Bell and KFC are expanding rewards programs and using targeted promotions to increase customer frequency, while brand innovation and global restaurant expansion support longer-term sales growth. Yum Brands doubles down on loyalty

Yum! Brands 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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