Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $171.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price hoisted by Citigroup from $163.00 to $171.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on YUM. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 target price on the stock. Argus downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.67.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded down $4.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $161.35. The company had a trading volume of 2,373,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,408,670. The stock has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.58. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $134.26 and a 12-month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.08%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at $74,054.48. The trade was a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474. The trade was a 99.91% 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 sold 4,288 shares of company stock worth $666,149 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 4.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 12,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2,946.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 75,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,226,000 after acquiring an additional 72,538 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,160 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 4,033 shares in the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 43,060.0% in the 3rd quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 2,207 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill brands. Its restaurants serve customers through dine-in, takeout, delivery and digital ordering channels.

The company’s brands offer a range of products, including KFC’s chicken meals, Taco Bell’s Mexican-inspired food, Pizza Hut’s pizzas and related items, and Habit Burger & Grill’s chargrilled burgers and sandwiches.