Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 36.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,598 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 4.3% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total transaction of $963,332.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,685 shares of company stock valued at $13,910,094. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $135.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.44 and a 200-day moving average of $135.85.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.