Gibbs Wealth Management Invests $798,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Gibbs Wealth Management acquired a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $706,799,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $632,950,000 after buying an additional 1,240,777 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $168,604,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This 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. Insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:YUM opened at $148.82 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.71.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.81.

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.