Chancellor Financial Group WB LP Makes New $627,000 Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Chancellor Financial Group WB LP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $444,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $225,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $469,000. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $6,953,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $36,484,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2%

YUM stock opened at $144.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.09.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.