Company Update (NYSE:YUM): Yum! Brands Reports Fourth-Quarter EPS Growth of 11%, or $0.68 Per Share, Excluding Special Items & Full-Year EPS Growth of 3%, or $3.18 Per Share, Excluding Special Items

[Business Wire] – Yum! Brands, Inc. today reported results for the fourth quarter ended December 26, 2015. Fourth-quarter EPS excluding Special Items was $0.68, an increase of 11%. Reported EPS was $0.63 for the quarter and $2.92 for the year. Read more on this. Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) , valued at $31.24B, began trading this morning at $72.59. Looking at today’s trading action, the company’s one day range from $71.43 to $73.27 with its 52-week range being $66.35 to $95.90. Priced at 22.81x this year’s forecasted earnings, YUM shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 14.06x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.84 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.54%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 19 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.66 per share, which would be $0.05 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $3.17, which would be a $0.08 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $4.02 Billion. If reported, that would be a 0.50% increase over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Credit Suisse upgraded YUM from Underperform to Neutral (Oct 8, 2015). Previously, JP Morgan upgraded YUM from Neutral to Overweight. Given all the information above, we should disclose to readers that the average price target is $81.56, which is 12.36% above than it opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:YUM) Similar Articles: Market Update (NYSE:MO): Altria Reports 2015 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results; Delivers Full-Year Adjusted Diluted EPS Growth of 8.9% Company Update (NYSE:USB): U.S. Bancorp Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Earnings Market Update: Yum! Brands Inc (NYSE:YUM) – Yum! Brands Launches World Hunger Relief Effort with Global Spokesperson Christina Aguilera in New Public Service Announcement