Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.37.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $148.51 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $151.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $134.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.02. The company has a market cap of $41.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.