Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Earns Hold Rating from TD Cowen

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by equities researchers at TD Cowen in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $140.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.58% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.61.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $131.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $36.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.67.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,276 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,002,000 after acquiring an additional 3,609 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 10.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.4% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.0% in the third quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 3,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during 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.