Vise Technologies Inc. Buys New Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,671 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after buying an additional 124,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after acquiring an additional 121,304 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $706,799,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands outlined a renewed consumer-growth strategy centered on strengthening brand engagement, digital capabilities, loyalty programs and operational execution across KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. The emphasis on personalized customer experiences and technology could support sales and franchisee performance. Yum! Brands Reveals New Path for Consumer Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The company appointed former HanesBrands CEO Steve Bratspies to its board, effective August 26. His experience managing global consumer brands and improving operations may add expertise as Yum! pursues growth and evaluates its portfolio. Yum! Brands Appoints Steve Bratspies to Board
• Neutral Sentiment: Pizza Hut is using a football-themed branding promotion ahead of the NFL season. The marketing effort could increase near-term visibility, but it comes as Yum! advances the multibillion-dollar sale of the chain, making the strategic implications more important than the promotion itself. Pizza Hut Branding Change
• Negative Sentiment: Shares faced pressure after Yum! announced a new chief executive officer. Although a leadership change could bring fresh momentum, investors may be concerned about execution risk and the direction of the company during the transition. Yum! Brands Slides on Naming New CEO
• Negative Sentiment: An insider reportedly reduced a Yum! Brands equity stake by 28%, while executive share withholding related to restricted-stock-unit vesting was also disclosed. These transactions are not necessarily signals of deteriorating fundamentals, but they can weigh on sentiment. Yum! Brands Insider Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP said it is investigating potential claims on behalf of Yum! investors. The announcement does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds legal and reputational uncertainty to the stock. Pomerantz Investor Investigation

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $153.31 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.43 and its 200-day moving average is $155.98.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback 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.