Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,080 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $972,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $5,087,000. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $11,453,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,889,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,213,000. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,126,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on YUM. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.97.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase 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.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction 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 $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% 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 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company 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.