Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans Sells 3,494 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.97.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

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.