Corient Private Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 171,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,945 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $25,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after buying an additional 31,836 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Hawaii raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 1,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $435,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $426,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $150.54 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $154.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.