Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Consensus rating: Twenty-one analysts give Yum! Brands a consensus "Moderate Buy" (12 buy, 9 hold) with an average 12‑month price target of $174.50.
• Q4 results: Yum! reported EPS of $1.73 (missed by $0.03) while revenue of $2.52B beat expectations and rose 6.4% year‑over‑year; analysts project ~5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Dividend increase: The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 ($3.00 annualized), implying a 1.8% yield and a payout ratio of 54.05%.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $174.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays set a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 5th.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $162.66 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $169.39. The firm has a market cap of $44.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.76.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 54.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total value of $40,176.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 756.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 238,030 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,009,000 after buying an additional 210,226 shares in the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc NYSE: YUM is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company's principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company's operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.