Entropy Technologies LP Acquires New Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 30,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,576,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $706,799,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $272,794,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $168,604,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,251,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $154.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.70.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

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.