Empower Advisory Group LLC Grows Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,071 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUM. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This trade represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,319 shares of company stock worth $2,063,221 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $136.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.64. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.70 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

About Yum! Brands

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.