Simplicity Wealth LLC Buys 4,990 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 339.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,990 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $163.57 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.85.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.