Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Holdings Raised by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 61.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,916 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YUM. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $152.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.78. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39. The company has a market capitalization of $41.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% 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 Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.