Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rating Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $167.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock.

YUM has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.30.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $144.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,367,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,309. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $146.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.02. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $40.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total value of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total transaction of $39,119.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,177.35. The trade was a 13.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,763 shares of company stock valued at $2,637,564 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,554 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,405,000 after acquiring an additional 8,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Econ Financial Services Corp purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,449,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.