Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Earns Buy Rating from TD Cowen

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by TD Cowen in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $156.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock. TD Cowen's price objective points to a potential upside of 13.04% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.19.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $0.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $138.01. 1,546,578 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,942,491. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.64 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,521 shares of company stock valued at $4,620,263. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 692,970 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $86,580,000 after purchasing an additional 11,603 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Yum! Brands by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 616,573 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $76,439,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 227,959 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,481,000 after buying an additional 20,356 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,703 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,336,000 after buying an additional 4,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 25,760 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,218,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.