Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $146.44.

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $133.56 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $124.76 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $135.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.10. The company has a market capitalization of $37.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 50.09%.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.