Argent Advisors Inc. Boosts Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Argent Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,755 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $134.92. 1,876,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,391. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $132.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.85. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.