Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $22.13 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.8%, selling 9,133 shares, and now holds approximately 0.05% of the company valued at $22.1 million.
• Yum! Brands' recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.44, which was below analysts' expectations of $1.46, with quarterly revenue of $1.93 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0% and a dividend payout ratio of 56.02%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 147,557 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 9,133 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.05% of Yum! Brands worth $22,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,098,801 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $330,267,000 after buying an additional 53,326 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,954,145 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $307,504,000 after buying an additional 27,355 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,940,044 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $305,286,000 after buying an additional 430,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,700,298 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $267,559,000 after buying an additional 23,008 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $145.63. The stock had a trading volume of 3,068,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,804,876. The company's 50-day moving average price is $146.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.54. The company has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,192 shares of company stock valued at $5,346,507. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands 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.