UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Reduces Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,146,294 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 11,726 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $343,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Steph & Co. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $154.08 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.79. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,512 shares of company stock worth $2,899,517. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.