Weiss Ratings Reaffirms “Buy (B)” Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “buy (b)” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Melius started coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.48.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $142.84 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $147.12 and a 200-day moving average of $146.98.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.80, for a total value of $1,074,964.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 102,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,413,371.40. This trade represents a 6.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,195 shares of company stock worth $5,348,137. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 151.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,657,000 after acquiring an additional 94,355 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $939,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,564,000 after acquiring an additional 6,673 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 256,961 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is 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.