Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) VP Sells $1,219,227.15 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $149.65. 301,350 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,081,538. The company has a market cap of $41.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 37.74%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy 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 shares are undervalued.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell credited its loyalty program with strong digital-sales growth and plans to launch a redesigned app in the third quarter. Improved engagement and ordering frequency could help the brand recover customer traffic. Taco Bell credits its loyalty program for digital sales growth
• Positive Sentiment: Yum!’s $4 billion share-repurchase authorization, equivalent to as much as 9.4% of shares, could support earnings per share and signal management’s confidence in the company’s valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundsmith’s investment commentary highlighted Yum!’s rapid international expansion as a long-term growth driver, offering geographic diversification beyond the current Taco Bell issues. Yum! Brands: Rapid Global Expansion Drives Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares for approximately $40,000, and CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares for about $41,000. Both transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, making them a limited discretionary signal; Turner retained roughly 63,771 shares. Yum! Brands CEO insider sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Discussion of a potential Pizza Hut-less Yum! Brands raises strategic questions, but no separation or transaction has been announced. What does a Pizza Hut-less Yum Brands look like?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Michigan officials contacted Yum! about the cyclospora outbreak weeks before a public alert have intensified concerns over Taco Bell’s response and potential reputational, sales and financial damage. Additional reported deaths have further increased investor anxiety. Michigan warned Taco Bell before public cyclospora alert

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everett Harris & Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $3,183,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $406,000. Mill Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,450,000. Tema ETFs LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.9% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 5,797 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 59,546 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,519,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.94.

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.