Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Securities Analyst Says

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective boosted by TD Securities from $151.00 to $164.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. TD Securities currently has a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.65.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $159.53 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.04. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $161.28. The company has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $43,944,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $95,000. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $475,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $412,000. Hedge funds and other 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.