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

TD Cowen reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $160.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut Yum! Brands from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Argus reiterated a hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 4.2 %

YUM stock opened at $135.33 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $138.30 and a 200 day moving average of $131.40. The firm has a market cap of $38.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.