Everpar Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Everpar Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 31.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE YUM traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $137.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,669,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,981,394. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $132.56 and a 200 day moving average of $135.46.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares in the company, valued at $9,326.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,376 shares of company stock worth $13,730,237. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on YUM. Evercore ISI cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

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.