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

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.25.

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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 Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $134.65 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $117.11 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.27 and its 200 day moving average is $135.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,668 shares of company stock valued at $12,976,413 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the first 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 period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 23.7% in 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 during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $200,668,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 36.6% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,174,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,498,000 after purchasing an additional 582,267 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.