JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reduced its price target for Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $160.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.30% from the previous close despite maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Yum! Brands recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44, falling short of estimates, with revenue of $1.93 billion, reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year growth.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CEO Scott Mezvinsky selling shares that decreased his ownership stake by 13.42%, while hedge funds continue to hold a significant 82.37% of Yum! Brands' stock.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $162.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.30% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on YUM. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:YUM traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $141.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,685,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,647. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.61 and a 200 day moving average of $146.65. The company has a market cap of $39.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $260,231.40. This trade represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,084,113.80. The trade was a 6.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $232,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,521,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $338,296,000 after purchasing an additional 24,681 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,284,171 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $306,444,000 after purchasing an additional 244,264 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. 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.

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