Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $144.89.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $126.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $7,645,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $984,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $1,262,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.