Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $124.68 and last traded at $125.06, with a volume of 807947 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $127.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YUM. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.24.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $134.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results 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 during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.