Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.67

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.67 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th.

Yum! Brands has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Yum! Brands has a payout ratio of 42.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Yum! Brands to earn $6.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.3%.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $139.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.03 and a 200-day moving average of $133.21. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20. The company has a market cap of $39.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,521 shares of company stock worth $4,620,263. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.53.

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.