Machina Capital S.A.S. Grows Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 42.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,941 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.82.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $138.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $146.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.13.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,413,371.40. The trade was a 6.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

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.