Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Position Cut by Andra AP fonden

Key Points

• Andra AP fonden cut its Yum! Brands position by 21% in the second quarter, selling 8,400 shares and retaining 31,547 shares valued at approximately $5.04 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.37% of the company.
• Yum! Brands reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, beating estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. The company also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program and maintains a $3.00 annual dividend, yielding about 2.1%.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 14 Buy, six Hold and one Sell rating, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $174.67 versus the reported share price of $141.03.

Andra AP fonden decreased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,547 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 8,400 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.5% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $141.03 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $148.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.58. The company has a market cap of $38.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.23 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.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share 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 net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% 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. Insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $162.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.67.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company's restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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