JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on YUM. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, December 5th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Oppenheimer downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.50.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $165.80 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.63 and its 200-day moving average is $150.63.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.05%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total transaction of $265,383.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 13,888 shares of company stock worth $2,244,938 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,077 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Ketron Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,254,000. Monetary Solutions Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $263,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.