KBC Group NV Grows Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,214 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.81.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum appointed Nai De Leon as Chief People & Culture Officer, effective November 1, signaling a leadership refresh and continued focus on culture and talent management at the company. Yum! Brands (YUM) Appoints Nai De Leon As People Chief In Leadership Shift
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell is responding to the outbreak with a $1 lettuce-free Enchirito promotion, a move aimed at winning back customers and stabilizing traffic. Taco Bell Offers $1 Lettuce-Free Enchirito to Win Back Customers Post-Parasite
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts said the Taco Bell outbreak may hurt sales in the short term, but they do not expect lasting damage to the brand, suggesting the selloff may be tied more to near-term sentiment than a structural problem. Cyclosporiasis outbreak hits Taco Bell sales, unlikely to cause lasting scar, analysts say
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Taco Bell visits plunged 19% after the outbreak highlight a meaningful traffic hit, which could pressure same-store sales and earnings expectations for Yum! Brands. Visits To Taco Bell Plummeted 19% After Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked To Restaurant’s Lettuce

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $147.60 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $154.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.79.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.