Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $160.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price boosted by Oppenheimer from $154.00 to $160.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on YUM. Bank of America decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.78.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $128.61 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $124.76 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $135.21 and its 200-day moving average is $133.99.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other 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.