Sei Investments Co. Has $28.94 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Sei Investments increased its Yum! Brands stake by 15.7% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 186,136 shares valued at approximately $28.94 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on YUM, with 11 Buy ratings and seven Holds and an average price target of $174.81. The stock recently opened at $147.99.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.50, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $2.06 billion. The company also pays a $0.75 quarterly dividend and authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,136 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 25,243 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.07% of Yum! Brands worth $28,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $153.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.73.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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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