EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 38.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 553 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,947 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 20,035 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,618,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $469,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 127,986 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $138.07 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The company has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average of $135.38.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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 $169,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,629 shares of company stock valued at $13,888,443 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.25.

Yum! Brands Company 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.