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

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $146.44.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 research report on Tuesday.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE YUM opened at $134.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.11. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $124.76 and a 12-month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.