United Bank Raises Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

United Bank lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 122.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,716 shares during the period. United Bank’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM traded up $1.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.57. 1,847,140 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,285,954. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $154.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.84. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total transaction of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.12.

Yum! Brands 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.