Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) PT Raised to $148.00 at Barclays

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $144.00 to $148.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.31.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $134.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,452,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,501. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average is $138.25 and its 200 day moving average is $131.42. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 available through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 103,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 31,939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,990,000 after buying an additional 1,864 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 175,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,893,000 after buying an additional 17,470 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 96.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 11,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,428,000 after buying an additional 5,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 8,649 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.