Weiss Asset Management LP Invests $1.26 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,257,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $706,799,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $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. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $632,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,777 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $168,604,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $40,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,272,013.44. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of YUM opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given 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 presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.