Analysts Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Price Target at $175.24

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $174.6667.

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 target price for the company. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Steph & Co. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE:YUM opened at $138.03 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $149.38 and a 200 day moving average of $154.05. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $134.26 and a 52 week high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.