Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $175.67.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $162.00 price objective on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $184.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $161.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.92 and a 200-day moving average of $153.58. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $134.26 and a 52-week high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.05. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 39.14% and a negative return on equity of 25.54%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 24.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,054.48. This trade represents a 35.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 4,288 shares of company stock worth $666,149 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 12,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2,946.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 75,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,226,000 after buying an additional 72,538 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,160 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,771,000 after buying an additional 4,033 shares in the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 43,060.0% in the third quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.7% in the third quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 2,207 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill brands. Its restaurants serve customers through dine-in, takeout, delivery and digital ordering channels.

The company’s brands offer a range of products, including KFC’s chicken meals, Taco Bell’s Mexican-inspired food, Pizza Hut’s pizzas and related items, and Habit Burger & Grill’s chargrilled burgers and sandwiches.