Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $151.68 and last traded at $152.31, with a volume of 61212 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $150.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $134.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.11.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $418,692,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,289,000. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 602.1% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,946,000 after acquiring an additional 312,871 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.