Gibbs Wealth Management Purchases New Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

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

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.71.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released 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. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Yum! Brands

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.