7,798 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Bought by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,798 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th 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. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% 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 Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $39,972.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,766,528.65. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 2.2%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $154.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $153.48 and a 200-day moving average of $155.81.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.