Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 37,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,025,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,186,811,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $706,799,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $272,794,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $279,432,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.97. The company has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Yum! Brands

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.