Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Rating Reiterated by TD Cowen

TD Cowen restated their buy rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $156.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an outperform rating to an inline rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $133.65 on Thursday. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.75.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Sabir Sami sold 71,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.16, for a total value of $9,745,355.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,326.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,624 shares of company stock worth $12,946,761. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 82 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.