Tidal Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 114.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 53,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,380 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upgraded Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.24.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $141.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.88 and a 200 day moving average of $154.97. The stock has a market cap of $38.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. This represents a 99.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. The trade was a 0.41% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.