Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $165.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target hoisted by analysts at UBS Group from $156.00 to $165.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.70% from the company’s previous close.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.95.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of YUM traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $143.85. The stock had a trading volume of 551,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,076,510. The company’s 50-day moving average is $132.28 and its 200 day moving average is $133.72. The company has a market capitalization of $40.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $144.71.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently 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.