Saudi Central Bank Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its Yum! Brands stake by 88.8% in the second quarter, ending with 19,350 shares valued at approximately $3.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, exceeding estimates of $1.58, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company also announced a $0.75 quarterly dividend and authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $174.65, compared with the stock’s reported price of $150.58.

Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 88.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,350 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 9,102 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $150.58 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.27 and a 200 day moving average of $155.42. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be 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 is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Yum! Brands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $39,972.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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