BMO Capital Markets Increases Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $135.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $133.00 to $135.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential upside of 0.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.31.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of YUM traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $134.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,452,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,501. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.42. The firm has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 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.