Andra AP fonden Raises Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Andra AP fonden grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 26.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,947 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 8,347 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 4,361 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,019,387 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $158,488,000 after purchasing an additional 17,032 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $138,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Yum! Brands by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,589 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,954,000 after purchasing an additional 6,214 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $147.60 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.16 and a 200-day moving average of $156.79. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This trade represents a 36.45% 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 have sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum appointed Nai De Leon as Chief People & Culture Officer, effective November 1, signaling a leadership refresh and continued focus on culture and talent management at the company. Yum! Brands (YUM) Appoints Nai De Leon As People Chief In Leadership Shift
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell is responding to the outbreak with a $1 lettuce-free Enchirito promotion, a move aimed at winning back customers and stabilizing traffic. Taco Bell Offers $1 Lettuce-Free Enchirito to Win Back Customers Post-Parasite
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts said the Taco Bell outbreak may hurt sales in the short term, but they do not expect lasting damage to the brand, suggesting the selloff may be tied more to near-term sentiment than a structural problem. Cyclosporiasis outbreak hits Taco Bell sales, unlikely to cause lasting scar, analysts say
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Taco Bell visits plunged 19% after the outbreak highlight a meaningful traffic hit, which could pressure same-store sales and earnings expectations for Yum! Brands. Visits To Taco Bell Plummeted 19% After Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked To Restaurant’s Lettuce

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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