Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rating Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $167.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.30.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $144.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.02.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total value of $39,119.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $256,177.35. This trade represents a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,763 shares of company stock worth $2,637,564. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Yum! Brands

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.