Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given New $165.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $156.00 to $165.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.05.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $143.49 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $144.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced 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). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th 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 during 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.