Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Announces Earnings Results

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12, Zacks reports. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $139.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.11.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 275 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,795.45. This represents a 13.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 770 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.8% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 11,109 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,646,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.82.

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.