Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 8,008 Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,280,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on YUM shares. Argus cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $170.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $153.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.97. The company has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474. This trade represents a 99.91% 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.