Jacobs & Co. CA Sells 4,142 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Jacobs & Co. CA decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,501 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,142 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,416,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $41,044.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $73,971.45. This represents a 35.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,386 shares of company stock worth $3,169,392. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.31.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:YUM opened at $150.60 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.43. The company has a market cap of $41.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

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.