Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Grows Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Envestnet Portfolio Solutions increased its Yum! Brands stake by 174.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 23,436 shares valued at about $3.55 million.
• Yum! Brands reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.50 versus the $1.39 estimate and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 15.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, or $3.00 annually, for a yield of 1.9%, while analysts currently have a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $176.22.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 174.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,436 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 14,887 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,609,000 after buying an additional 11,532 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Yum! Brands by 19.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 347,395 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $52,804,000 after buying an additional 57,112 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 430,416 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $65,423,000 after buying an additional 10,632 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $24,786,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 89.8% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 20,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $154.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $157.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.46.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays set a $185.00 price objective on Yum! Brands and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.22.

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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