Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.61 on December 8th

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 16th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 28th will be given a dividend of 0.605 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, December 8th. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 27th.

Yum! Brands has increased its dividend by an average of 10.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Yum! Brands has a payout ratio of 41.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Yum! Brands to earn $5.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.1%.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $127.66 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.46. The stock has a market cap of $35.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.04.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.18. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.32% and a negative return on equity of 17.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on YUM shares. TD Cowen restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $136.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.23, for a total value of $499,198.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,759.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.23, for a total value of $499,198.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,759.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,507 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.55, for a total transaction of $412,247.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,738,553.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,638 shares of company stock worth $2,603,751 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 28,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.17% 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 four segments: the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division. It 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.