Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.25.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $138.07 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $133.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.38. The stock has a market cap of $38.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,629 shares of company stock worth $13,888,443. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,022,648,000 after buying an additional 5,607,517 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 23.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,883 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,033,906,000 after buying an additional 1,362,813 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,939,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $823,534,000 after acquiring an additional 121,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 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.