Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Cut to $145.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $147.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.44.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.6 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $133.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.10. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $118.28 and a twelve month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 8,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $4,017,818.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,673 shares of company stock worth $13,918,095. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $3,415,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $7,645,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings 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 worth $16,763,000 after acquiring an additional 73,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 333,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000,000 after acquiring an additional 5,137 shares during the last quarter. 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.