Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA Buys 6,300 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,300 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This represents a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on YUM. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.81.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE YUM opened at $148.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $154.06 and a 200-day moving average of $156.71. 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 Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

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.