Leonteq Securities AG Grows Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Leonteq Securities AG boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 215.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,607 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,192 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 51.6% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 199,730 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,054,000 after acquiring an additional 67,950 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 331.2% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,112 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 974,960 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $151,606,000 after purchasing an additional 33,235 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

YUM opened at $164.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $153.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.43. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $40,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,272,013.44. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Twelve investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.