Yum! Brands’ (YUM) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at TD Cowen

TD Cowen restated their buy rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a $156.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on YUM. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a neutral rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of YUM opened at $133.65 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.77. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The stock has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,685 shares of company stock worth $13,910,094. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.