Analysts Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Price Target at $175.24

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $174.6667.

Several analysts have commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $135.97 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.16. The firm has a market cap of $37.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $135.69 and a 1 year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Econ Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.5% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.