Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2,288.1%, owning 502,267 shares worth approximately $74.43 million at the end of Q2.
• Yum! Brands reported a quarterly revenue of $1.93 billion, slightly missing analyst expectations, alongside an earnings per share of $1.44.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.0% with a payout ratio of 56.02%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 2,288.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 502,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 481,235 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.18% of Yum! Brands worth $74,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $32,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,192 shares of company stock worth $5,346,507 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $145.63. 3,068,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,804,876. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.54. The company has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.