Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $149.30 and last traded at $147.34, with a volume of 1970781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $148.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus raised 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $133.87 and its 200 day moving average is $134.82. The stock has a market cap of $42.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 51.34%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 2,358 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $1,163,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.