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

Key Points

• Yum! Brands has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 24 rating firms, with 13 analysts suggesting a hold and 11 a buy rating.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.44, missing expectations of $1.46, and revenue was reported at $1.93 billion, slightly below the estimate of $1.94 billion.
• Yum! Brands announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, with an annualized payout of $2.84, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.0%.

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $163.1364.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $163.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $143.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's 50-day moving average is $147.35 and its 200 day moving average is $146.26. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is 56.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.59, for a total transaction of $41,962.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $267,795.45. The trade was a 13.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 679.2% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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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