Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Citigroup

Citigroup reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $141.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior target price of $153.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.61.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $123.43 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $123.19 and a 1 year high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $34.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $134.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.83.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $39,000. 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.