Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans Sells 3,494 Shares of Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $474. This represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded up $4.43 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $157.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,241,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,112. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.98. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Argus dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.