Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given New $165.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird lowered Yum! Brands’ price target from $174 to $165 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying approximately 17.1% upside from the $140.90 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $174.67; coverage also included Seaport Research Partners initiating a “buy” rating with a $162 target.
• Yum! Brands exceeded quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $1.62 versus $1.58 expected, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year. The company also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, potentially covering up to 9.4% of outstanding shares.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $174.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Robert W. Baird's price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.11% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on YUM. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $162.00 target price for the company. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research cut Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.67.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $140.90 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $150.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total value of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,054.48. This represents a 35.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at $9,766,528.65. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,334,427,000 after purchasing an additional 121,304 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $740,462,000 after buying an additional 4,317,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company's restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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