Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Rating Reiterated by TD Cowen

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at TD Cowen in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $160.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.44.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $135.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.42. The company has a market cap of $38.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,058,156,000 after purchasing an additional 373,232 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,914,257,000 after buying an additional 678,659 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $720,485,000 after buying an additional 210,238 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $409,596,000 after purchasing an additional 124,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $331,831,000. 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.