Brokerages Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) PT at $145.94

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $145.94.

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,069 shares of company stock worth $2,842,965. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $137.63 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.43. The company has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.09%.

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.