Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Shares Acquired by Leonteq Securities AG

Leonteq Securities AG increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 215.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,607 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,192 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in Yum! Brands by 51.6% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 199,730 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,054,000 after acquiring an additional 67,950 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 331.2% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,112 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 974,960 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $151,606,000 after buying an additional 33,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $164.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.86 and a 200 day moving average of $156.43.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,511.84. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $531,544. This trade represents a 34.44% 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 have sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.12.

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.