Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $155.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.05.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $143.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $144.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.28 and a 200-day moving average of $133.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.