Q3 EPS Estimates for Yum! Brands Decreased by Zacks Research

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) – Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Yum! Brands in a research note issued on Thursday, February 20th. Zacks Research analyst H. Ray now expects that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $1.46 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.48. The consensus estimate for Yum! Brands’ current full-year earnings is $5.94 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yum! Brands’ Q3 2025 earnings at $1.46 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.52 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.54 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.54 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $7.49 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $148.51 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $134.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.02. The company has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $151.29.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,604,632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,021,194,000 after acquiring an additional 163,462 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $475,714,000 after buying an additional 601,361 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $418,692,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $338,296,000 after buying an additional 24,681 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after acquiring an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% 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 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.