SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 210,226 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 756.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,030 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 210,226 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.09% of Yum! Brands worth $37,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on YUM. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $152.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.78. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $169.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.57.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total value of $44,452.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% 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 have sold a total of 5,895 shares of company stock worth $906,499 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.