TD Cowen Lowers Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $156.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price cut by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $158.00 to $156.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.46% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on YUM. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Yum! Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $141.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at $15,084,113.80. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value 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. Insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock worth $2,150,965 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.