Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $155.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of YUM opened at $133.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.10. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $124.76 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,844 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $984,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.