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

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $145.94.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of YUM opened at $137.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $123.70 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.46.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results 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). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 409.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,061 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,525,000 after buying an additional 37,828 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 45.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 12,794 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,774,000 after buying an additional 4,012 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 803 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 239.0% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,010 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 14.8% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.