Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $166.08 and last traded at $164.9630, with a volume of 158458 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $163.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Barclays set a $185.00 target price on Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.63.

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

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total value of $1,937,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 13,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,244,938 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,356,869,000 after acquiring an additional 684,946 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after buying an additional 124,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,334,427,000 after acquiring an additional 121,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $706,799,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.