Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $167.3810.

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $173.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This trade represents a 95.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,970 shares of company stock worth $4,624,805 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of YUM opened at $154.61 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.34 and its 200-day moving average is $146.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 17.95%.The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

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.