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

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $161.2273.

YUM has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock worth $4,271,543. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $146.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.04.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.02%.

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.