Occidental Asset Management LLC Invests $688,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,305 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $531,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $196,240,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,477,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $861,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $145.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.15. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.