Renaissance Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Econ Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at $9,766,528.65. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $41,044.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,971.45. This trade represents a 35.69% 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 sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $148.21 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.22. The firm has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14.

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

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on YUM shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.31.

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.