Robert W. Baird Cuts Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $165.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price cut by Robert W. Baird from $174.00 to $165.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research cut Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Argus cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.67.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $138.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $149.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.05. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $134.26 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $37.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total value of $41,175.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,054.48. This trade represents a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the second quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.5% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.