Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rating Lowered by Evercore ISI

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $145.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price target of $160.00. Evercore ISI’s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.10% from the company’s current price.

YUM has been the topic of several other research reports. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.31.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $129.35 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.03 and a 200-day moving average of $134.98. The company has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at $4,936,793.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,073 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.14, for a total transaction of $969,991.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,160,066.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,398 shares of company stock worth $4,552,727 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 12.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,349 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,238,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3,858.8% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after acquiring an additional 7,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,242 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. 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.