QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 17,189 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 103,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 17,189 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $16,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of 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 fourth 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 in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $632,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,777 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $168,604,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $164.20 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $169.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $153.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.43.

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

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid 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 payout ratio is 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,511.84. The trade was a 36.45% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.