Graham Capital Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. made a new investment of approximately $4.71 million in Yum! Brands, acquiring nearly 30,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Yum! Brands recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71, with a payout ratio of 56.02% and an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.
• Despite reporting earnings per share of $1.44 for the recent quarter, Yum! Brands missed analysts' estimates by $0.02 and had a revenue of $1.93 billion, just below expectations.

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 29,940 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $4,711,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,084,113.80. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total value of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $144.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,539,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,026,280. The stock's 50-day moving average is $146.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

Yum! Brands 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.