Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,462 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,670 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $8,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $706,799,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $632,950,000 after buying an additional 1,240,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $168,604,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. This represents a 34.44% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,721. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $152.33 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $154.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.92. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $41.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut launched a limited-time “Throwback Value Menu,” plus a streetwear collaboration and nostalgic “Back to the Hut” promotion, which could help support customer traffic and brand buzz. Pizza Hut Introduces New Throwback Value Menu to Celebrate Its Most Iconic Menu Items
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum! Brands also remains in restructuring mode, including selling Pizza Hut operations in some markets, which could improve focus and margins over time but is not an immediate catalyst. Yum! Brands (YUM) Stock May Be Near Fair Value On Outbreak Probe
• Negative Sentiment: Federal and state health officials are investigating whether Taco Bell ingredients were linked to a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak, prompting Taco Bell to remove select items and fresh ingredients from some restaurants as a precaution. Yum shares fall after report US health authorities investigating Taco Bell in cyclosporiasis outbreak
• Negative Sentiment: News of the investigation has weighed on sentiment and pushed the shares lower as investors worry about possible reputational damage, traffic disruption, and any broader food-safety fallout for Taco Bell. Is Yum! Brands (YUM) Below Fair Value As Cyclospora Headlines Weigh On Sentiment?

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on YUM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.81.

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.