Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives $174.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $174.50.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $185.00 price target on Yum! Brands and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.5%

YUM stock opened at $154.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.86. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.98% and a negative return on equity of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. This trade represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,138 shares of company stock worth $2,289,990. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.