Yum! Brands’ (YUM) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Argus

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by investment analysts at Argus in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on YUM. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $174.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.67.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $141.03 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $134.26 and a 1-year high of $170.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.58.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 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 firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $39,972.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Russell sold 7,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

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

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.