Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Trading Up 7% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) shares rose 7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $149.35 and last traded at $149.1360. Approximately 1,919,075 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 2,068,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.38.

The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.82.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 2,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total transaction of $296,121.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,154.90. The trade was a 62.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,078 shares of company stock worth $4,304,785 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,564,000 after buying an additional 6,673 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 256,961 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,435,000 after buying an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,172,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 11.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 498,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $78,459,000 after buying an additional 51,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 741.1% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 5,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $146.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.11. The stock has a market cap of $41.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.72.

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.