Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Receives Buy Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen reiterated their buy rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $160.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on YUM. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Yum! Brands from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $135.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.40. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 84 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.