TD Cowen Reiterates Buy Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at TD Cowen in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $180.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.70% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 price target on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.12.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock traded up $3.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $158.32. 641,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,895,772. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $137.33 and a one year high of $169.39. The stock has a market cap of $43.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.71.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 20.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.51%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $38,664.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,551.62. This trade represents a 35.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,895 shares of company stock valued at $906,499 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $706,799,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $272,794,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,183,964 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $632,950,000 after buying an additional 1,240,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $168,604,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands reached definitive agreements to sell Pizza Hut, with LongRange Capital buying most operations outside Mainland China and Yum China taking the China business, simplifying the company’s portfolio and sharpening its focus on core brands. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management also approved an incremental $4 billion buyback authorization, which should support earnings per share and signals confidence in the company’s cash generation. RTT News article
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate reports noted KFC is rolling out a global brand refresh with new menu items, drinks, and updated store designs, which may help growth longer term but is not a direct near-term catalyst for YUM shares. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: The Pizza Hut sale also underscores how the chain has lagged rivals amid softer consumer demand, rising costs, and market-share pressure from competitors such as Domino’s, highlighting the challenges YUM is exiting. CNBC article

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.