Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Hits New 1-Year Low - Here's What Happened

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $124.68 and last traded at $125.06, with a volume of 807947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on YUM. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.61.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 3.4 %

The company has a market cap of $34.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.83.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at $20,518,588.62. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $228,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $199,511,000 after purchasing an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $123,243,000 after buying an additional 58,437 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.