Robert W. Baird Cuts Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $165.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price cut by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $174.00 to $165.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.11% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research cut Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.67.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM stock opened at $140.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.58. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a market cap of $38.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474. This represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.