LGT Group Foundation Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

LGT Group Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $169,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total value of $969,991.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total transaction of $963,332.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,398 shares of company stock worth $4,552,727. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM traded up $1.20 on Friday, reaching $128.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 492,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,881. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.85. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.