4,011 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Purchased by Delta Global Management LP

Delta Global Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of YUM opened at $148.82 on Monday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $154.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.76. The stock has a market cap of $41.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released 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. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share 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 often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued 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 was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This trade represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. 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 research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.81.

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.