Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Now Covered by Melius

Melius assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $200.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM opened at $147.26 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $145.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.85.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total value of $1,028,160.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,603 shares of company stock worth $1,107,613 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company 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.