The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on YUM. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.05.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $143.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.72. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $144.71.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.