Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Yum! Brands has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 21 brokerages, with 13 buys, six holds, one sell and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is approximately $175.24, above the reported share price of $146.65.
• The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations on earnings, reporting $1.62 in EPS versus the $1.58 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $2.17 billion.
• Yum! Brands authorized a $4 billion share repurchase program, covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equivalent to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $175.2353.

Several analysts recently commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research lowered Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total value of $41,175.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,054.48. The trade was a 35.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $248,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 114.4% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 53,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,503,000 after buying an additional 28,380 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in Yum! Brands by 4.0% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 470,206 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $75,167,000 after buying an additional 18,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 5.5% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 4.1%

Yum! Brands stock opened at $146.65 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.75.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. Yum! Brands's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.74%.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company's restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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