Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Raised to Strong-Buy at Robert W. Baird

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was upgraded by Robert W. Baird to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on YUM. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $156.55 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of Yum! Brands 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’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 transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474. This represents a 99.91% 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. Insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 124.5% in the 2nd 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 raised its position in Yum! Brands by 10.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 59.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.