Atria Investments Inc Raises Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,349 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $4,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $138.01 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.72.

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). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total transaction of $1,074,964.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,413,371.40. This represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on YUM. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.82.

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.