Tidal Investments LLC Buys 28,380 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 114.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 28,380 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $141.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.88 and a 200 day moving average of $154.97.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Robert W. Baird raised Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 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 value of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 transaction of $44,436.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.