9,901 Shares in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM Purchased by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 9,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,583,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $4,186,811,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $706,799,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $272,794,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $279,432,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,482.86. The trade was a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 worth $2,890,168 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2%

YUM stock opened at $144.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.09. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

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.