Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Coverage Initiated at Melius

Melius started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $200.00 price objective on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on YUM. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE YUM traded up $1.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $147.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 446,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,984,591. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.86. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 18.42%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 7.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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.