Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Upgraded by Argus to Buy Rating

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was upgraded by analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $155.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Argus’ target price points to a potential upside of 16.09% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.44.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $133.52 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.38 and a 200 day moving average of $134.12. The company has a market capitalization of $37.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $124.76 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth $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 acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 43.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.