Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Yum! Brands has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 23 ratings firms, with 13 holding ratings and 10 buy ratings.
• The average 12-month price target for Yum! Brands is $161.23, reflecting recent brokerage updates and ratings.
• CEO David W. Gibbs sold over 7,100 shares of Yum! Brands stock, reducing his holdings by 6.46%, while institutional investors own about 82.37% of the company's shares.

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $161.2273.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. Melius started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,106 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.84, for a total value of $1,043,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,108,808.12. This trade represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.92, for a total transaction of $36,798.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,559.60. The trade was a 13.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,557,612 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,120,747,000 after purchasing an additional 448,393 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,131,263 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,945,791,000 after buying an additional 297,641 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,216,042 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,217,826,000 after buying an additional 218,046 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $602,551,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,844,806 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $569,723,000 after buying an additional 40,757 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $143.61 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $146.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.10. The firm has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 56.02%.

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.

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