556,107 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Acquired by Fundsmith LLP

Fundsmith LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 556,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $88,899,000. Yum! Brands makes up about 0.7% of Fundsmith LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

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

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $154.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $153.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.79.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% 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 have sold 18,512 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,517 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

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.