Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC Makes New $1.01 Million Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Shakespeare Wealth Management initiated a $1.01 million position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter, purchasing 7,421 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.65, despite several firms recently lowering their targets.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, exceeding expectations, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.75, yielding approximately 1.9% annually.

Shakespeare Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,421 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 5.5% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $39,931.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,858,454.75. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% 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 have sold 12,778 shares of company stock valued at $1,966,393. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $184.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $162.00 target price on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $154.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.26 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.49.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The business's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company's business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.

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