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

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $152.24.

A number of research firms recently commented on YUM. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock traded down $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $144.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,002,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,028. The company's fifty day moving average is $152.06 and its 200 day moving average is $140.02. The company has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.77, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

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Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,032 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 55,799 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,777,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $42,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 455.3% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,149 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 11,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,727 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.