Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 21,637 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 56.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 21,637 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $9,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YUM. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $30,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.81.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

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

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reported adjusted earnings of $1.62 per share, exceeding the $1.58–$1.59 analyst consensus. Revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion, broadly in line with expectations, while GAAP EPS reached $3.08. Yum Brands Reports Second-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell was the main earnings driver, with strong sales, restaurant-level margins, and continued international expansion helping offset weaker performance at Pizza Hut. The result suggests the company entered the quarter with solid operating momentum. Yum Brands Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Taco Bell Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Taco Bell traffic and sales are beginning to recover after the company removed affected lettuce and communicated its response to consumers. Discounts and new menu items are being used to rebuild visits and customer trust. Taco Bell Parent Company Says Sales Already Recovering
• Neutral Sentiment: The reported quarter ended June 30 and largely predates the cyclospora outbreak, limiting the usefulness of the strong results as a guide to current Taco Bell trends. Cyclospora Outbreak Clouds Strong Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell same-store sales declined 2% quarter-to-date through July 27 after a multistate cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce sickened thousands of people. The disruption could pressure near-term sales, marketing costs, and margins. Taco Bell Works to Restore Sales Following Cyclospora Outbreak
• Negative Sentiment: Investors received limited detail about the outbreak’s ultimate financial impact, leaving uncertainty around the pace of recovery and potential reputational or legal liabilities. Yum Brands Reports Mixed Results but Gives No Update on Outbreak

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% 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, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 11,896 shares of company stock worth $1,869,148 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of YUM opened at $157.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Yum! Brands

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.