Oxbow Advisors LLC Takes $3.76 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Oxbow Advisors bought 23,548 shares of Yum! Brands worth approximately $3.76 million, while institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $174.65; Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to “overweight” and raised its target to $185.
• Yum! Brands beat quarterly earnings expectations with $1.62 EPS and reported 12.2% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.

Oxbow Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,548 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,764,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $19,294,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $144.89 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $153.57 and its 200 day moving average is $156.09. The firm has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14.

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

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,482.86. This trade represents a 36.45% 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. Insiders have sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Yum! Brands

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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