Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.67 on December 13th

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 21st,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.67 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd.

Yum! Brands has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years. Yum! Brands has a payout ratio of 44.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Yum! Brands to earn $6.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.5%.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $135.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.50. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.94.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.