Pavion Blue Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Pavion Blue Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 36,407 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,820,000. Yum! Brands accounts for approximately 2.4% of Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after acquiring an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.9%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $145.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $153.71 and its 200-day moving average is $156.15.

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

Yum! Brands announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Yum! Brands

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.