Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Posted by Stanley Muller on Aug 3rd, 2026

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.9375.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th.

Get Our Latest Research Report on YUM

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $153.21 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $153.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.71. The firm has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS was $1.62, above the $1.58–$1.59 analyst consensus, while revenue increased 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion. Net income surged 128% to $853 million, supported by higher sales, strong Taco Bell performance and improved restaurant-level margins. Yum! Brands Reports Second-Quarter Results
Positive Sentiment: Pizza Hut’s planned $2.7 billion sale could sharpen Yum’s focus. Management is exiting the weaker-performing Pizza Hut business and intends to concentrate capital and resources on KFC, Taco Bell and its other growth brands. Yum also outlined a KFC transformation strategy spanning its 20 largest markets through the end of 2027. Yum outlines Pizza Hut sale for $2.7B
Positive Sentiment: Loyalty and digital initiatives remain growth drivers. Taco Bell and KFC are expanding rewards programs and using targeted promotions to increase customer frequency, while brand innovation and global restaurant expansion support longer-term sales growth. Yum Brands doubles down on loyalty

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total transaction of $464,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $485,695.20. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $40,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,032 shares in the company, valued at $10,272,013.44. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,896 shares of company stock worth $1,869,148. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $86,197,000 after acquiring an additional 31,836 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $1,589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,030,000 after purchasing an additional 30,075 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $1,264,000. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,372,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.