Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $147.37.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of YUM traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $148.43. 1,433,632 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,195,232. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $133.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.82. The firm has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $149.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 130,808 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,549,000 after acquiring an additional 3,362 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $311,000. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 68.8% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 735 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.