Leo Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 531,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,596,000 after acquiring an additional 198,069 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 112,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,124 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $381,000. American National Bank lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 23,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after purchasing an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 140.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 66,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,671,000 after purchasing an additional 38,818 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $136.92 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $138.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.64. The firm has a market cap of $38.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total transaction of $969,991.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares in the company, valued at $23,160,066.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paget Leonard Alves sold 6,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.19, for a total transaction of $859,222.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,454 shares of company stock worth $3,656,748. 0.31% of the stock is owned by 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.