Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 45,127 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $7,141,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 124,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $706,799,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:YUM opened at $154.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $153.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.81. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the firm’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 $41,044.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $73,971.45. This trade represents a 35.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued 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 upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

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.