Chicago Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE YUM traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $133.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,930,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,752. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.89. The company has a market cap of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.52%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.00.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total value of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,947,485.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,685 shares of company stock valued at $13,910,094. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.