Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 33,239 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Beacon Pointe Advisors initiated a position in Yum! Brands by purchasing 33,239 shares valued at approximately $5.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $174.65, despite some recent downgrades.
• Yum! Brands exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, declared a $0.75 quarterly dividend, and authorized a $4 billion share buyback covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 33,239 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $5,314,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased 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. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands 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 $962,680.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. 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 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $154.08 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. The company's 50-day moving average is $153.48 and its 200 day moving average is $155.81.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.74%.

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

Yum! Brands Company 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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