Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 2,610 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 13.1%, acquiring an additional 2,610 shares, bringing its total holdings to 22,592 shares valued at approximately $3.56 million.
• Yum! Brands' stock has experienced a decline of 0.9%, with shares trading around $141.34, amid a market capitalization of $39.23 billion.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings, missing analysts' expectations with an EPS of $1.44, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share.

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,592 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $3,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $32,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $38,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $142.12. 1,606,719 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,086,219. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $145.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.18. The firm has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. Yum! Brands's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 56.02%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total value of $36,798.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,983 shares of company stock worth $2,187,764. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.