These Restaurant Stocks Are Getting Slammed

Despite hiking their dividends earlier in the week, large restaurant chains are trading down Friday.

According to Zacks, Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) — the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell – hiked its dividend by 18 percent to an annual payout of $1.35 per share. Yum’s dividend has grown very quickly over the last five years, at a rate of 19.86 percent, beating the industry average of 5.03 percent. Despite this, shares dropped below their 200-day moving average on September 28.

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McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) got slapped with a downgrade from Janney Capital Markets, even though it increased its dividend by 10 percent. This brings yield to 3 percent and annual payout to $3.08. Analysts are concerned that September same-store sales are gearing up to be the worst in 2012. McDonald’s is the second-worst performing company in the Dow Jones Index this year, with only Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) making a poorer showing. McDonald’s is down 5.71 percent this year through September 27.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT), which owns Chili’s Grill and Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy, also increased its quarterly dividend by 25 percent at the end of August. Brinker looks set to outperform with over 33 percent growth this year through September 27 and positive prospects moving into the future.

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