Analysts Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Target Price at $145.94

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $145.94.

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $137.63 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $123.70 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.50 and a 200-day moving average of $134.51. The company has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $228,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $199,511,000 after purchasing an additional 51,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,243,000 after purchasing an additional 58,437 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Yum! Brands

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.