Yum! Brands, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, September 18th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th.

Yum! Brands has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. Yum! Brands has a payout ratio of 44.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Yum! Brands to earn $7.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.7%.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $154.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $170.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $153.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.81.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.