Fox Run Management L.L.C. Has $1 Million Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 105.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,406 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $44,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $186.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.12.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands is reportedly close to selling Pizza Hut to a private equity buyer, a move that could simplify the company’s structure and allow management to focus on higher-performing brands like Taco Bell and KFC. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched “The Summer of Hut Originals,” a marketing campaign that brings back nostalgic promotions like BOOK IT!, which could support brand engagement and traffic in the near term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Tracy Skeans, Yum’s COO and Chief People Officer, is retiring after more than 25 years with the company. Leadership turnover can create uncertainty, but the announcement appears to be a planned retirement rather than a surprise departure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary noted that Yum! Brands has underperformed the consumer cyclical sector and lagged some peers, even though analysts still remain moderately optimistic on the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch reported that Yum! Brands stock underperformed competitors on Monday, reflecting some relative weakness versus restaurant peers. Article Title

Yum! Brands Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of YUM opened at $151.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.66. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $38,664.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,551.62. This represents a 35.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.