Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment 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 $145.25.

Several research firms have issued reports on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,326.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,668 shares of company stock valued at $12,976,413 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 24.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,022,648,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607,517 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,512,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,883 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $200,668,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in Yum! Brands by 10.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,033,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,813 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 36.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,174,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $301,498,000 after purchasing an additional 582,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $134.65 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $135.27 and its 200 day moving average is $135.32. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $117.11 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $37.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.52%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.