Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $20.85 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 22.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 134,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,556 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $20,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,836 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,030,000 after buying an additional 30,075 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $1,264,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $24,786,000. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $1,372,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 3.5%

NYSE:YUM opened at $156.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $169.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $153.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.88.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.12.

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.