WBI Investments LLC Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• WBI Investments LLC has acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc., purchasing 8,396 shares valued at approximately $1.32 million in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions include COO Tracy L. Skeans selling 12,220 shares for about $1.81 million, and CEO David W. Gibbs selling 7,117 shares valued at around $1.04 million.
• Yum! Brands recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, with a payout ratio of 56.02%, indicating a yield of 1.9%.

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,396 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,321,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.8% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGIM Custom Harvest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.3% in the first quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total value of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $146.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.03. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.

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