Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Yum! Brands stake by 50.9% in the second quarter, adding 68,223 shares to reach 202,351 shares valued at approximately $32.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of YUM.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31; Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to “overweight.”
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, ahead of expectations, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year. The company also announced a $4 billion share-buyback authorization and maintains a $0.75 quarterly dividend.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 202,351 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 68,223 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Yum! Brands worth $32,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.31.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $150.60 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $153.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 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 presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,386 shares of company stock valued at $3,169,392. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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