Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 9,389 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group acquired 9,389 Yum! Brands shares worth approximately $1.5 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Yum! Brands carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $174.65 versus a recent price of $154.08.
• Yum! Brands exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.62 in EPS, and announced a $0.75 quarterly dividend plus a $4 billion share-repurchase authorization covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,389 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,501,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Argus dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:YUM opened at $154.08 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $153.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.81. The stock has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 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, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474. This represents a 99.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands 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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