Insider Selling: Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) COO Sells 3,494 Shares

Key Points

• Yum! Brands COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares at an average price of $158, generating $552,052. The transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and left Skeans with three shares directly owned.
• Yum! Brands shares rose 2.9% to $157.42, while the company’s latest quarterly results showed EPS of $1.62, ahead of the $1.58 consensus estimate, and revenue growth of 12.2% year over year.
• The company authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of YUM traded up $4.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $157.42. 2,241,050 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,142,112. The company has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.98.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on YUM. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $22,422,000 after acquiring an additional 83,916 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc NYSE: YUM is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company's principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company's operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.

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