Churchill Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Churchill Financial Advisors LLC initiated a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter, buying 9,100 shares valued at about $1.377 million.
• Yum! Brands reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 versus the $1.39 consensus and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 15.2% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, implying a $3.00 annual payout and a 1.9% yield; analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $176.22 price target.

Churchill Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,459,940,000 after acquiring an additional 487,069 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,348,846 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $509,025,000 after acquiring an additional 176,221 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,943,187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $447,364,000 after acquiring an additional 153,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.0% in the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,735,106 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $415,736,000 after acquiring an additional 104,336 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $40,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,359,304.96. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% 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 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.22.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $155.24 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $157.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

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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