Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on YUM. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.15.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $150.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.67. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $149.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.83.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 55.36%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total value of $419,839.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total value of $189,550.53. Following the transaction, the insider owned 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,695 shares of company stock worth $4,582,843. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 3,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 10,768 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $305,000. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KFA Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.