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

Key Points

• Yum! Brands, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with 13 hold ratings and 10 buy ratings from 23 firms covering the stock.
• The CEO, David W. Gibbs, sold 7,117 shares at an average price of $146.60, reducing his ownership by 6.47%.
• Yum! Brands has a market capitalization of $39.23 billion and reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44, missing estimates by $0.02.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $161.2273.

YUM has been the subject of several research reports. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 263 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,559.60. This represents a 13.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,983 shares of company stock worth $2,187,764. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,367,427,000 after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,216,042 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,217,826,000 after purchasing an additional 218,046 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 35.9% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,306,932 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $341,841,000 after purchasing an additional 609,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,098,801 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $330,267,000 after purchasing an additional 53,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $141.34 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.12.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.11%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is presently 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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