Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target upped by Robert W. Baird from $160.00 to $176.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on YUM. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $159.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $137.81 and a 200-day moving average of $136.04. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $161.28. The company has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.