Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $144.75.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,058,156,000 after acquiring an additional 373,232 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,914,257,000 after purchasing an additional 678,659 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $720,485,000 after purchasing an additional 210,238 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $409,596,000 after purchasing an additional 124,080 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $331,831,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $143.18 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $115.53 and a 12-month high of $143.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $138.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.20. The company has a market capitalization of $40.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.