Corient Private Wealth LLC Buys 10,945 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 10,945 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 171,060 shares valued at about $25.9 million.
• Yum! Brands recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 versus $1.39 expected and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 15.2% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $4 billion stock buyback program and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equal to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 10,945 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $25,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.0%

YUM opened at $150.54 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $154.45 and a 200 day moving average of $155.76. The company has a market cap of $41.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business'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 firm posted $1.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.12.

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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