Empowered Funds LLC Invests $8.35 Million in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 52,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $8,351,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the second quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% 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 sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $154.08 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $170.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $153.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.81. The stock has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

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

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.