Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Buys New Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,493 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,953,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,294,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $144.89 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.09. The firm has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

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.