Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on YUM. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Yum! Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $156.55 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $41,044.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $73,971.45. This trade represents a 35.69% 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 sold a total of 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $99,621,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15,378.9% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,142,092 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,212,915,000 after purchasing an additional 69,688,945 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $327,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Yum! Brands by 7.3% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kintra Wealth LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 2,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently 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.