Q4 EPS Estimates for Yum! Brands Decreased by Zacks Research

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q4 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Yum! Brands in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $1.79 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.98. The consensus estimate for Yum! Brands’ current full-year earnings is $6.50 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yum! Brands’ Q2 2027 earnings at $1.68 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.03 EPS and Q2 2028 earnings at $2.03 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of YUM opened at $151.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $153.80 and a 200 day moving average of $156.25. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $41.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its 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 net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,549 shares of company stock worth $2,890,168. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,422,000 after buying an additional 83,916 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,447,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,294,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.