Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Yum! Brands, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with 13 hold ratings and 10 buy ratings among the 23 firms covering the stock.
• CEO Scott Mezvinsky and Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick recently sold shares, with Mezvinsky's transaction representing a 13.03% decrease in his position, while Graddick's represented a 62.31% decrease.
• The company reported $1.44 EPS for its latest quarter, missing estimates and indicating a 9.6% revenue increase year-over-year, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.71.

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $161.2273.

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Melius began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $245,559.60. This represents a 13.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $296,121.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,920 shares of company stock worth $5,306,175 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at about $689,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,108 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 92,848 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $13,758,000 after purchasing an additional 7,757 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 126.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,192 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 16,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $2,027,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $153.90 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $146.69 and its 200 day moving average is $147.29. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $42.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 56.02%.

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.

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