Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 43,493 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,953,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,484,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $355,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $3,764,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $6,246,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $144.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.57 and a 200-day moving average of $156.09.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

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.