Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $176.1176.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on YUM. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $165.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.56. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $44,436.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $40,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 64,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,272,013.44. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 12,423 shares of company stock worth $1,953,721 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,422,000 after purchasing an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.