Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Boosts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,729 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,540,000 after buying an additional 3,318 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 5,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $363,000. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,449,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $145.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.14 and a 200 day moving average of $146.31. The company has a market cap of $40.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 56.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total transaction of $1,074,964.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,413,371.40. The trade was a 6.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This represents a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,078 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,785. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.48.

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.