Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Bought by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YUM. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $134.03 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.82. The company has a market cap of $37.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

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

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total transaction of $1,134,562.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,818.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock valued at $13,910,094. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.