Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Cut to $162.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $166.00 to $162.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a hold rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $154.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $140.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $137.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.54. The stock has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at $23,817,351.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 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.