Barclays Reiterates Overweight Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Barclays in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $164.00 price objective on the restaurant operator's stock, down from their previous price objective of $167.00. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.19% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $170.00 to $162.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.55.

View Our Latest Research Report on Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE YUM traded up $1.65 on Tuesday, reaching $141.15. The company had a trading volume of 922,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,148,354. The company's fifty day moving average is $145.61 and its 200 day moving average is $146.65. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,367,427,000 after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $475,714,000 after buying an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $338,296,000 after buying an additional 24,681 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $306,444,000 after buying an additional 244,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,098,801 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $330,267,000 after acquiring an additional 53,326 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently 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.

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