Legal & General Group Plc Invests $297.59 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 1.86 million Yum! Brands shares worth approximately $297.6 million, representing a 0.68% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $174.65; Yum! recently exceeded quarterly EPS expectations and reported 12.2% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Yum! authorized a $4 billion stock-repurchase program, allowing buybacks of up to 9.4% of shares, while recent insider sales were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,861,575 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $297,591,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.68% of Yum! Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut is launching a major football-season promotion with Pepsi and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, including new advertising, promotional giveaways and value-oriented menu offers. The campaign could support traffic and sales during a key promotional period. Pizza Hut Teams Up With Pepsi and Josh Allen
• Positive Sentiment: KFC introduced its Hot Ranch Big Dip and Double Crispy Hot Wings nationwide, supported by a marketing partnership with streamer IShowSpeed. New products and high-profile promotions may help KFC maintain customer engagement and boost near-term demand. KFC Debuts New Hot Ranch Big Dip
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary is assessing the implications of Yum!’s Pizza Hut sale and its effect on the company’s portfolio and growth strategy. The reports provide perspective but do not disclose new transaction terms or a fresh operating forecast. What Does the Pizza Hut Sale Mean for Yum! Brands?
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP said it is investigating potential claims on behalf of Yum! Brands investors. The announcement may increase uncertainty and headline risk, although it does not itself establish wrongdoing or indicate the likely financial outcome. Pomerantz Investor Alert
• Negative Sentiment: COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 YUM shares worth approximately $552,000. The transaction reduced her direct holdings to three shares, which can be viewed negatively; however, it was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing its significance as a discretionary signal. SEC Insider Trading Filing

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their position. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $156.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.46 and a 200 day moving average of $155.95. The firm has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. Yum! Brands's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Company 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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