JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price cut by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $149.63. The company had a trading volume of 557,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,083,187. The company has a market cap of $41.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $137.33 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,925,521.26. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sean Tresvant sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.68, for a total value of $464,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,140 shares in the company, valued at $485,695.20. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,386 shares of company stock valued at $3,169,392. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after buying an additional 31,836 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $1,589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,030,000 after acquiring an additional 30,075 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $1,264,000. Finally, Ethos Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,372,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Taco Bell said its loyalty program is supporting digital-sales growth and plans to launch a redesigned app in the third quarter. The initiative could improve customer engagement and help accelerate sales recovery. Taco Bell credits its loyalty program for digital sales growth
• Positive Sentiment: Fundsmith’s investment commentary highlighted Yum!’s rapid international expansion as a long-term growth driver, offering support for the company’s broader unit-growth and geographic-diversification strategy. Yum! Brands: Rapid Global Expansion Drives Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum! Brands’ vice president David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares worth approximately $1.22 million, reducing his direct ownership by about 40%. The transaction was executed under a 10b5-1 plan, which makes it a less significant discretionary bearish signal. SEC filing for David Eric Russell transaction
• Neutral Sentiment: Executives Christopher Lee Turner and Scott Mezvinsky also sold small portions of their holdings—about $40,000 and $41,000, respectively—under pre-arranged trading plans. These sales may attract attention but do not necessarily indicate a change in management’s outlook. Yum! Brands insider selling report
• Negative Sentiment: Michigan officials reportedly discussed the cyclospora outbreak with Taco Bell on July 2 and sought follow-up meetings before the issue became public. The report raises concerns about the company’s response, potential sales damage and additional reputational or financial consequences. Michigan warned Taco Bell before public cyclospora alert
• Negative Sentiment: Reports linked the outbreak to declining Taco Bell traffic and sales, with Michigan reporting additional deaths. Because Taco Bell is one of Yum!’s largest brands, investors are weighing whether the disruption will reduce near-term earnings and require costly remediation. Sweetgreen drops as Yum falls amid cyclospora concerns

About Yum! Brands

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.