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

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.50.

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,840,607.94. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 695,059 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,649,000 after purchasing an additional 8,888 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $197,013,000 after buying an additional 703,891 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 347,395 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,804,000 after buying an additional 57,112 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,382,000 after buying an additional 713,167 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,609,000 after buying an additional 11,532 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.46 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.51. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $137.33 and a 12-month high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $43.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.05%.

About Yum! Brands

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.