Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives $147.37 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.37.

A number of research firms recently commented on YUM. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $148.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.35 and its 200 day moving average is $135.04. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $151.29.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $418,692,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $475,714,000 after acquiring an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $59,289,000. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 602.1% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,946,000 after acquiring an additional 312,871 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.