Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Earns Hold Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen reissued their hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $145.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $134.37 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $123.60 and a 1-year high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.81.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly 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 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total value of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,818.61. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 the SEC website. In related news, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.79, for a total transaction of $1,134,562.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,159 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,818.61. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,622 shares of company stock worth $4,172,740. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.