Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Receives “Hold” Rating from TD Cowen

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by equities research analysts at TD Cowen in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $140.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 2.43% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on YUM. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.05.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $143.49 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $144.71.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 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.