Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Has Average Price Target of $172.56 According to Brokerages

Posted by Stanley Muller on Oct 13th, 2026

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen 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 $172.56.

YUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th.

View Our Latest Report on Yum! Brands

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $39,931.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,858,454.75. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 12,778 shares of company stock worth $1,966,393 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Steph & Co. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $146.93 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.77. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $134.26 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buy back $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.

About Yum! Brands

(Get Free Report)

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, which specializes in fried and cooked chicken; Taco Bell, known for Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which offers pizza and related products; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain focused on chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.

The company primarily uses a franchised business model, working with franchisees and licensees to operate restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories.