Kelman Lazarov Inc. Purchases New Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Kelman Lazarov Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $4,186,811,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $272,794,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $279,432,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9%

YUM stock opened at $146.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $153.46 and a 200-day moving average of $156.02. The company has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.