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

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $161.2273.

Several research firms have weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 151.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,657,000 after acquiring an additional 94,355 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,564,000 after purchasing an additional 6,673 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $146.04 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $146.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.04. The firm has a market cap of $40.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

About Yum! Brands

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.