Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Increased to $148.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $144.00 to $148.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upgraded Yum! Brands from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $154.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Argus reiterated a hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen reiterated a buy rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $143.53.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $134.34 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.17 and a 200 day moving average of $131.69. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The firm has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.