SignalPoint Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

SignalPoint Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $134.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.33.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.