Quantinno Capital Management LP Grows Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,819 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.07% of Yum! Brands worth $31,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position 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 worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew 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 in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.94.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $153.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

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

Key Stories Impacting Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS was $1.62, above the $1.58–$1.59 analyst consensus, while revenue increased 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. Net income surged 128% to $853 million, supported by higher sales, strong Taco Bell performance and improved restaurant-level margins. Yum! Brands Reports Second-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut’s planned $2.7 billion sale could sharpen Yum’s focus. Management is exiting the weaker-performing Pizza Hut business and intends to concentrate capital and resources on KFC, Taco Bell and its other growth brands. Yum also outlined a KFC transformation strategy spanning its 20 largest markets through the end of 2027. Yum outlines Pizza Hut sale for $2.7B
• Positive Sentiment: Loyalty and digital initiatives remain growth drivers. Taco Bell and KFC are expanding rewards programs and using targeted promotions to increase customer frequency, while brand innovation and global restaurant expansion support longer-term sales growth. Yum Brands doubles down on loyalty

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,482.86. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 11,896 shares of company stock worth $1,869,148 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.