334,683 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Bought by Freestone Grove Partners LP

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 334,683 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $53,502,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,836 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $1,589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,030,000 after purchasing an additional 30,075 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,264,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 19.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,140,000 after purchasing an additional 17,189 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird upgraded YUM to “strong buy,” providing a bullish counterpoint to other recent rating changes. Analyst ratings and beef tariff article
• Positive Sentiment: A temporary 90-day waiver on beef import tariffs could reduce input costs for fast-food operators, potentially benefiting Yum!’s KFC and Taco Bell businesses, although the impact may be limited and temporary. Beef tariff waiver article
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched a football-season marketing campaign with Pepsi and Josh Allen, alongside promotional meal deals, which could support near-term customer traffic and sales. Pizza Hut football campaign

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $154.74 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $170.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on YUM. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

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.