Guggenheim Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Guggenheim from $155.00 to $165.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $152.24.

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Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $144.97. 3,002,483 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,017,028. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. 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. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $152.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.02.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in 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.