Wealthfront Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 39,074 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 39,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,246,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands’ investment narrative is increasingly centered on artificial intelligence, automation, digital loyalty and personalized app experiences. Management is using these tools across Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut to improve delivery, inventory management and customer engagement, potentially supporting efficiency and sales growth. How Yum! Brands’ AI Automation And Loyalty Push Has Changed Its Investment Story
• Positive Sentiment: One valuation analysis argues that YUM could be approximately 19% below fair value, offering potential upside if investors view the company’s long-term brand strength, technology investments and international growth favorably. The appointment of director Kathleen Oberg to the Audit Committee was also highlighted as a governance development. Yum! Brands Could Be 19% Below Fair Value After Audit Committee Change
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive Sean Tresvant reported restricted stock unit vesting and the withholding of shares to cover taxes. The filing is generally routine and does not necessarily signal a change in management’s view of the company. Yum Brands Executive Sean Tresvant Reports RSU Vesting and Tax-Related Share Withholding
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundups from Zacks and other market commentators provide additional coverage of YUM but do not identify a decisive new earnings or operating catalyst. The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights McDonald’s, Starbucks and Yum! Brands
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP is investigating potential claims on behalf of Yum! Brands investors. Although no finding of wrongdoing was reported, the investigation creates legal and reputational uncertainty. Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims on Behalf of Yum! Brands Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Argus issued a pessimistic forecast for YUM, tempering the more optimistic fair-value commentary and suggesting concern about the stock’s near-term risk-reward profile. Argus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Yum! Brands Stock

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Argus cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of YUM opened at $152.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.00. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The company has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication 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.