Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered Yum! Brands’ price target from $176 to $163 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying about 7.8% potential upside from the stock’s $151.19 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with 13 Buy ratings and eight Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $171.33.
• Yum! Brands beat quarterly EPS expectations ($1.62 versus $1.58) and reported 12.2% year-over-year revenue growth, while insiders sold 12,778 shares worth approximately $1.97 million over the past quarter.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Citigroup from $176.00 to $163.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Citigroup's price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.81% from the stock's current price.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Yum! Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $171.33.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $151.19. 840,706 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,163,475. The firm has a market cap of $41.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $134.26 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $145.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.51.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares in the company, valued at $74,054.48. The trade was a 35.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474. This trade represents a 99.91% 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 sold a total of 12,778 shares of company stock worth $1,966,393 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Steph & Co. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $29,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company's business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.

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