Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on YUM. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.78.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $156.87 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $134.26 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.48. The company has a market cap of $42.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.05. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total value of $39,931.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,858,454.75. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,054.48. This represents a 35.73% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 4,288 shares of company stock valued at $666,149 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $740,462,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317,526 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $279,432,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Yum! Brands News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets moved higher: Deutsche Bank raised its target to $171 from $167, while TD Cowen raised its target to $180 and maintained a Buy rating. Deutsche Bank price target TD Cowen rating
• Positive Sentiment: Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.56 topped analyst estimates. KFC’s international strength helped offset weakness elsewhere, with reports citing 9% international system-sales growth; Yum also reported 3% system-sales growth and 7% unit growth excluding Pizza Hut. Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Taco Bell sales are improving after the summer cyclospora outbreak. September and October trends strengthened, and loyalty members returned more quickly than other customers—potentially helping the brand’s recovery. Taco Bell loyalty and recovery
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum is expanding AI use across kitchens, drive-thrus and management, and is introducing a new KFC flagship design. These initiatives could support efficiency and customer experience over time, though near-term financial effects are unclear. Yum AI strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell’s U.S. same-store sales fell 4% in Q3 as the outbreak hurt customer traffic. Revenue was about $2.05 billion, roughly in line with some estimates but below others, tempering the earnings beat. Taco Bell Q3 sales
• Negative Sentiment: All KFC and Taco Bell locations in Puerto Rico temporarily closed after Yum ended its relationship with the local operator and seeks a new franchise partner. This disrupts sales in the market, though the scale of the financial impact was not specified. Puerto Rico restaurant closures

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company’s business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.