Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 71 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. This represents a 62.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,192 shares of company stock valued at $5,346,507 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $148.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $146.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.73. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. Melius began coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.23.

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.