Brokerages Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) PT at $147.37

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.37.

Several research firms recently commented on YUM. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $96,348,000 after buying an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,066,000 after buying an additional 5,684 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $148.51 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $134.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $151.29.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.