Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Rating Increased to Buy at Redburn Atlantic

Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $177.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous price target of $145.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.24.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of YUM opened at $143.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.21. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $22,984,484.01. The trade was a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total transaction of $39,119.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,177.35. This trade represents a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,763 shares of company stock worth $2,637,564 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.