Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $1.58 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group purchased 9,901 Yum! Brands shares worth approximately $1.58 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and seven Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $174.65.
• Yum! Brands exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.62 versus the $1.58 consensus, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year. The company also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase plan covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,901 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,583,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $86,197,000 after acquiring an additional 31,836 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $1,589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $88,030,000 after purchasing an additional 30,075 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $1,264,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.8% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,807 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,140,000 after purchasing an additional 17,189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% 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 sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $144.89 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.09. The company has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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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