Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Citigroup

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective cut by analysts at Citigroup from $176.00 to $163.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.33.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.3%

YUM stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $151.19. 840,706 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,163,475. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $145.72 and its 200 day moving average is $151.51. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $134.26 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $41.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 241 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.89, for a total value of $32,990.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,980.98. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,778 shares of company stock valued at $1,966,393. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% in the second quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the first quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 15,536 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 2,108 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company’s business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.