UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $156.00 to $165.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on YUM. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.05.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $143.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $144.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $132.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 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.