Kestra Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. by 15.4% in Q1, owning nearly 30,000 shares worth approximately $4.7 million after acquiring 4,000 additional shares.
• Yum! Brands reported a missed earnings estimate for Q2 with an EPS of $1.44, falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.46, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.6%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, yielding 1.9%, to be paid to stockholders of record on September 2nd.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,965 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 62.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total value of $36,798.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $245,559.60. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,284 shares of company stock valued at $4,310,663. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $147.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $146.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Ten 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

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.

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