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

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.30.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, November 17th.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the transaction, the insider owned 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,559.68. The trade was a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 833.3% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $155.58 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.71. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $128.73 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly 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. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 17.95%.The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.