Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.03), Briefing.com reports. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $159.07. 887,296 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,093,031. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.84. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $129.55 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.66.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 24,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $3,627,901.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,755 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.81, for a total value of $261,161.55. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,153 shares of company stock valued at $4,351,177 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.2% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 770 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $122,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on YUM shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, November 17th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $167.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.05.

Trending Headlines about Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Same-store sales beat estimates — Taco Bell and KFC drove the outperformance, signaling healthier demand and value-driven traffic that investors like. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue topped expectations (quarterly revenue up ~6.4% Y/Y), providing some offset to the EPS miss and supporting top-line growth narrative. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Yum increased its dividend in the quarter, a shareholder-friendly move that can support the stock in the near term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed quarter overall — digital momentum and global expansion remain tailwinds, but brand-level dispersion (Taco Bell strong, Pizza Hut weak) creates uneven outlook for growth. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street models were recently adjusted ahead of the report; expectations are being re-priced but no clear consensus shift yet. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed consensus ($1.73 vs. $1.78 expected), which is the main near-term driver of downward pressure on the stock; company still posted higher EPS vs. a year ago but failed to beat estimates. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Pizza Hut sales fell in the quarter and remain a drag on consolidated performance; brand-level weakness raises execution risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders sold roughly US$6.3M of stock ahead of/reporting near the quarter, and the company reported a negative return on equity metric in filings — both raise governance/efficiency concerns for some investors. Read More.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.