Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,211,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 318.7% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 204,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,607,000 after buying an additional 156,000 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $267,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 34,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total transaction of $963,332.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $129.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

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

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Company 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.