Nuveen LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc., purchasing 619,299 shares valued at approximately $97.5 million, which equates to about 0.22% of the company.
• Investment analysts have mixed ratings on Yum! Brands, with Goldman Sachs upgrading it to a "buy" and setting a target price of $167.00, while others have adjusted their target prices downward.
• Yum! Brands reported earnings of $1.44 per share in its latest quarter, falling short of estimates, while its revenue increased by 9.6% year-over-year.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 619,299 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $97,453,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Yum! Brands as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,908 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,559.60. The trade was a 13.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,958 shares of company stock valued at $1,455,725. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0%

YUM stock traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $148.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,604,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,118,243. The firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

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.