Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,065 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total value of $859,222.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,515 shares of company stock worth $4,620,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $132.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,818,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,881,942. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.07. The stock has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands Company 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.