Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 on September 18th

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, September 18th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th.

Yum! Brands has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. Yum! Brands has a dividend payout ratio of 44.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Yum! Brands to earn $7.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.9%.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $154.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.81. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $137.33 and a 1-year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.