Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Has $1.24 Million Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 331.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Twelve 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $165.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.45. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.