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

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $167.3810.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Yum! Brands to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,292. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the transaction, the insider owned 64 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This trade represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,970 shares of company stock worth $4,624,805. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Verus Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Amundi increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 115.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $197,013,000 after purchasing an additional 703,891 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,382,000 after purchasing an additional 713,167 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $304,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,557,612 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,120,747,000 after buying an additional 448,393 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.7%

YUM opened at $153.69 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.89. The company has a market cap of $42.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.