Fox Run Management L.L.C. Lowers Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. significantly reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 79.7% in the first quarter, leaving it with only 1,668 shares valued at $262,000.
• Various institutional investors have altered their positions in Yum! Brands, with Brighton Jones LLC increasing its stake by 8% and BI Asset Management raising it by an impressive 92.2% in the fourth quarter.
• Yum! Brands reported $1.44 earnings per share for the latest quarter, which was below analysts' expectations of $1.46, alongside a revenue of $1.93 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 79.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,668 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 6,538 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 151.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,657,000 after buying an additional 94,355 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $55,564,000 after buying an additional 6,673 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.2%

YUM traded down $0.2870 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.7230. 1,995,333 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,270,952. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The company's 50-day moving average is $146.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.05. The company has a market cap of $41.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on YUM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Melius assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total value of $1,811,492.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,284 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,663. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.