NS Partners Ltd Has $27.36 Million Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

NS Partners Ltd lowered its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 171,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 22,366 shares during the quarter. Yum! Brands comprises 1.2% of NS Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. NS Partners Ltd owned 0.06% of Yum! Brands worth $27,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position 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 worth $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake 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 worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in 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 buying an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,512 shares of company stock worth $2,899,517. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $153.36 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.75. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Company 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.