OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Raises Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• OMERS Administration Corp increased its Yum! Brands stake by 135.7% in the first quarter, owning 24,020 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.50, exceeding estimates of $1.39, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $2.06 billion. The board also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, equivalent to up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, or $3.00 annualized, representing a 2.0% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $174.81, versus a share price of $147.99 in the article.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 135.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,020 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 13,830 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after purchasing an additional 124,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,471,127 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $676,392,000 after buying an additional 104,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The stock's 50-day moving average is $153.98 and its 200-day moving average is $156.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

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 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $40,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,272,013.44. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.81.

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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