Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $124.68 and last traded at $125.06, with a volume of 807947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.61.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.3 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.90. The company has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released 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 negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after purchasing an additional 178,612 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after buying an additional 147,180 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after buying an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 140.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 126,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,763,000 after acquiring an additional 73,844 shares during the period. 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.