Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Cut to $162.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $166.00 to $162.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $144.75.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $140.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $137.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.54. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IRON Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $676,000. Iowa State Bank lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 18,623 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is 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.