OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Invests $1.17 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,324 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after acquiring an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position 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 valued at $19,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 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 $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. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $145.36 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.15.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% 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 (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.