Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Rating Increased to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. TD Cowen currently has $173.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous price target of $162.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.38.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $148.05 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $41.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.29.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.36%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total value of $1,074,964.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,413,371.40. This represents a 6.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,292. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,538 shares of company stock valued at $2,029,594. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the third quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 3,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.2% in the third quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 303,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,653,000 after acquiring an additional 16,755 shares in the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,478 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.