Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Decreases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 5.3%, owning 41,156 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million by the end of the second quarter.
• Yum! Brands reported a missed earnings estimate for the previous quarter, with earnings per share of $1.44 versus expectations of $1.46, alongside revenue of $1.93 billion.
• The company's stock has an average target price of $161.32, with 11 analysts rating it as a Buy and 13 giving it a Hold rating.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,156 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,307 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $6,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.32.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $148.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.13 and a 200 day moving average of $147.08.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total transaction of $1,074,964.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,413,371.40. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,195 shares of company stock valued at $5,348,137 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

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.

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