Citigroup Reiterates Neutral Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Citigroup reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $141.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock, down from their previous price target of $153.00.

YUM has been the subject of several other reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.61.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 3.4 %

YUM stock traded down $4.31 on Friday, hitting $123.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,554,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,094,698. The stock has a market cap of $34.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $134.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.83. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $123.19 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

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

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $39,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.