Nykredit A S Takes $17.07 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 106,785 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $17,071,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $150.58 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $153.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upgraded Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

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.