Guggenheim Cuts Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $155.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target lowered by Guggenheim from $180.00 to $155.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.56.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $143.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $134.26 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.96.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

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

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. The trade was a 39.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares in the company, valued at $74,054.48. This represents a 35.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.14% 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,836 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,589,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 114.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 53,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,503,000 after buying an additional 28,380 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,140,000 after buying an additional 17,189 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $15,285,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research increased its EPS forecasts for Yum! Brands to $6.92 for fiscal 2027 and $7.71 for fiscal 2028, while raising its fourth-quarter 2027 estimate to $2.05 from $2.03. The firm maintains a Hold rating, but the higher estimates suggest improving earnings expectations. Zacks Research Predicts Higher Earnings for Yum! Brands
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen maintained its Buy rating while trimming its price target to $177 from $180. The revised target still implies substantial upside from recent trading levels, supporting investor confidence in YUM’s valuation. TD Cowen Adjusts Price Target on Yum! Brands
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor coverage remains mixed but generally constructive. Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” with analysts citing the company’s global franchise model, dividend and recently authorized $4 billion share-repurchase program as potential supports. A comparison of YUM and Domino’s also highlights the trade-off between dividend growth and share-price stability. YUM versus DPZ dividend comparison
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 285 shares for approximately $39,931, reducing his direct holdings by 0.45%. Because the transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represents a small portion of his remaining stake, it is a limited negative signal rather than a clear change in management’s outlook. Yum! Brands CEO insider sale

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, which specializes in fried and cooked chicken; Taco Bell, known for Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which offers pizza and related products; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain focused on chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.

The company primarily uses a franchised business model, working with franchisees and licensees to operate restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories.