Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.94.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 2.3 %

YUM stock opened at $133.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.66. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $123.70 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total transaction of $179,856.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $169,414.20. This trade represents a 51.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,319 shares of company stock worth $2,063,221. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $37,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.