BMO Capital Markets Boosts Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $135.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $133.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen restated a buy rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Yum! Brands from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $143.53.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $134.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $138.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.53. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. Research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands 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 directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Howland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the first quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 124,476 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,259,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $2,039,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 78.1% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $2,239,000. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $291,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Yum! Brands

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.