Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives $151.60 Consensus PT from Analysts

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $152.24.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $145.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $151.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.94. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the first quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 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.