Citigroup Increases Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $151.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $148.00 to $151.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.71.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.8 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $144.85 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30. The stock has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.11.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now owns 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $713,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 128.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after buying an additional 5,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 54.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 47,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,651,000 after acquiring an additional 16,767 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by 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.