Argus reiterated their hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.
A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.67.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on YUM
Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.0%
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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.
Yum! Brands Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.
Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% in the fourth 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 bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,589,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 114.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 53,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,380 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,140,000 after purchasing an additional 17,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Key Stories Impacting Yum! Brands
Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reportedly exceeded second-quarter earnings expectations, providing support for the stock despite revenue and broader growth concerns. Yum! Brands stock falls despite Q2 EPS beat
- Positive Sentiment: KFC, Yum!’s largest brand, is testing a new “Open House” restaurant in McKinney, Texas. The location adds breakfast, expanded menu options, updated design and hospitality features, with the goal of identifying concepts that could be rolled out across more than 3,500 U.S. restaurants. The initiative could support traffic, innovation and future same-store sales. KFC debuts Open House restaurant in Texas
- Neutral Sentiment: A quarterly comparison of Yum! Brands with other traditional fast-food companies gives investors sector context, but the available report details do not identify a clear relative-performance advantage or disadvantage. Q2 rundown of Yum! Brands and fast-food peers
- Neutral Sentiment: Yum! Brands is preparing to move workers into Pittsburgh’s PNC Tower, which will receive a Yum! Brands logo. The corporate relocation is unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. PNC Tower adding Yum Brands logo
- Negative Sentiment: Argus Research downgraded Yum! Brands from Buy to Hold and cited headwinds that could make its growth targets harder to achieve. The downgrade, along with reports of other analyst rating reductions, is a direct source of selling pressure and reflects concerns over execution, consumer demand and valuation. Argus downgrades Yum! Brands to Hold
- Negative Sentiment: An analyst review also highlighted major risks to Yum!’s previously reliable growth model, suggesting investors may be reassessing the company’s longer-term expansion assumptions. Analyst revises Yum! Brands stock target
Yum! Brands Company Profile
Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.
The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.
Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
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