Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $167.3810.

YUM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Monday.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $148.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.29. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. 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 55.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.81, for a total transaction of $261,161.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,870 shares of company stock worth $5,657,495. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.