Aristides Capital LLC Sells 5,973 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Aristides Capital LLC lessened its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 28.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,973 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $40,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,272,013.44. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $147.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $154.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.77.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.81.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands continues to make leadership changes, appointing Nai De Leon as Chief People & Culture Officer, which may help support long-term organizational execution and culture. Yum! Brands (YUM) Appoints Nai De Leon As People Chief In Leadership Shift
• Neutral Sentiment: Valvoline elected Scott Mezvinsky, CEO of Yum! Brands’ KFC division, to its board, underscoring his broader industry profile but creating no direct change to Yum’s operations. Katherine Fogertey and Scott Mezvinsky Elected to Valvoline Inc. Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and preview pieces say Yum’s upcoming earnings are expected to grow, but they also warn the company may not have the right setup for an earnings beat, keeping sentiment mixed ahead of results. Yum Brands (YUM) Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell’s cyclosporiasis outbreak is still weighing on traffic, with reports that visits dropped sharply after the lettuce-linked illness scare; that raises concern about near-term sales at one of Yum’s key brands. Cyclosporiasis outbreak hits Taco Bell sales, unlikely to cause lasting scar, analysts say
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell is trying to win back customers with a $1 Enchirito promotion, which suggests management is responding to softer demand from the outbreak-related backlash. Taco Bell Offers $1 Lettuce-Free Enchirito to Win Back Customers Post-Parasite

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.