Twin Capital Management Inc. Invests $598,000 in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Twin Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $152.10 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $154.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.91. The company has a market cap of $41.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

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

Yum! Brands News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are still looking ahead to Yum! Brands’ upcoming quarterly results, with expectations for low-double-digit bottom-line improvement, which could help offset some of the outbreak-related pressure. What to Expect From Yum! Brands’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum’s Taco Bell reportedly removed select items from some restaurants as a precaution while officials investigate the outbreak; the company says it has ruled out any confirmed connection so far. Yum’s Taco Bell removes select items, says no confirmed link to U.S. cyclosporiasis outbreak
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Taco Bell lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms has been identified by investigators as a potential source of the cyclosporiasis outbreak, increasing reputational and legal risk for Yum! Brands. Taco Bell lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms linked to US cyclosporiasis outbreak, Washington Post reports
• Negative Sentiment: YUM stock has also been hit by broader outbreak-related headlines and investor concern that the issue could hurt traffic at Taco Bell and pressure near-term sentiment. Is Yum! Brands (YUM) Below Fair Value As Cyclospora Headlines Weigh On Sentiment?

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.