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

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $172.56.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.89, for a total value of $32,990.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,980.98. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,778 shares of company stock valued at $1,966,393. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,619 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,768,000 after acquiring an additional 4,760 shares in the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $248,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 28,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $146.54 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.51 and a 200-day moving average of $151.62. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $134.26 and a 12-month high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a $0.75 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 37.74%.

About Yum! Brands

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.