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

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $145.94.

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of YUM traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $137.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,727,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,292. The company has a market cap of $38.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $134.32 and a 200 day moving average of $134.81. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $123.60 and a 52 week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,069 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.92, for a total transaction of $974,956.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,132 shares in the company, valued at $21,947,485.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $169,414.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,622 shares of company stock valued at $4,172,740. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 6.3% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,465 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 179,387 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,062,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,081,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,214 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.