Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.61

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.605 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, June 9th. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 26th.

Yum! Brands has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Yum! Brands has a payout ratio of 40.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Yum! Brands to earn $5.83 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 41.5%.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $130.87 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.31. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $103.96 and a fifty-two week high of $143.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.08). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.90, for a total value of $544,488.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,962,442.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 1,150 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $155,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,770. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,920 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.90, for a total transaction of $544,488.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,962,442.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,068,713. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $222,000. Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Fiduciary Group LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $214,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on YUM shares. Cowen reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Monday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.11.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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Yum! Brands, Inc operates as a service restaurant company. The firm engages in the development, operation, franchise, and licenses of a system of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: KFC Division, Pizza Hut Division, Taco Bell Division, and Habit Burger Grill Division. The KFC Division segment consists of all operations of the KFC concept.