Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Morgan Stanley restated their equal weight rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $140.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $158.00.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on YUM. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $127.07 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $35.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in 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. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.