Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,501 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,501 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $560,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% in 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 last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $41,044.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,971.45. This 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

More Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird upgraded YUM to “strong buy,” providing a bullish counterpoint to other recent rating changes. Analyst ratings and beef tariff article
• Positive Sentiment: A temporary 90-day waiver on beef import tariffs could reduce input costs for fast-food operators, potentially benefiting Yum!’s KFC and Taco Bell businesses, although the impact may be limited and temporary. Beef tariff waiver article
• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched a football-season marketing campaign with Pepsi and Josh Allen, alongside promotional meal deals, which could support near-term customer traffic and sales. Pizza Hut football campaign

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $154.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.91.

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

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.