Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from TD Cowen

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target decreased by TD Cowen from $180.00 to $177.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 target price for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.56.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of YUM stock opened at $144.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $134.26 and a 52 week high of $170.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.91.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 37.74%.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to buy back $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $39,931.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,225 shares in the company, valued at $8,858,454.75. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total value of $41,175.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,054.48. This trade represents a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,778 shares of company stock worth $1,966,393. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $740,462,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317,526 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $279,432,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, which specializes in fried and cooked chicken; Taco Bell, known for Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which offers pizza and related products; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain focused on chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.

The company primarily uses a franchised business model, working with franchisees and licensees to operate restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories.