Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the second quarter, now holding 17,140 shares valued at $2.54 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71, with a dividend yield of 2.0%, and a payout ratio of 56.02%.
• Yum! Brands' quarterly earnings reported a miss on EPS estimates at $1.44, and revenue was $1.93 billion, slightly below the expected $1.94 billion.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 24.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,140 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 3,318 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,540,000 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. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 151.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,657,000 after purchasing an additional 94,355 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $939,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $55,564,000 after purchasing an additional 6,673 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 256,961 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This represents a 62.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total transaction of $1,074,964.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,413,371.40. The trade was a 6.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $144.34 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $147.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.58. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.48.

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.

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