Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Upgraded by Robert W. Baird to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

YUM has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Argus reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $156.55 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The company has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.95.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This trade represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.