Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 107,415 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 84.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,038 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 107,415 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $35,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.8% in the third quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the third quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.3%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.46 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.45 and a 200 day moving average of $152.51.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays set a $185.00 target price on Yum! Brands and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Yum! Brands 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.