Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given "Sector Perform" Rating at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "Sector Perform" rating on Yum! Brands and set a $165 price target, implying only about a 1.1% upside from current levels.
• Analyst consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with 12 Buys and 9 Holds and an average price target of $174.50, showing mixed but generally positive sentiment.
• Yum! reported Q results with an EPS miss ($1.73 vs. $1.76 est.) but revenue beat ($2.52B, +6.4% YoY), and insiders—including CEO Aaron Powell—have sold shares recently (14,138 shares sold in the last 90 days).

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating restated by Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price indicates a potential upside of 1.10% from the stock's current price.

YUM has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.50.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of YUM traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $163.20. 88,212 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,835,565. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $160.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.78. The firm has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.66.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 14,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,365,096. The trade was a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 242 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.02, for a total transaction of $40,176.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,607.94. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,289,990. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 124.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 151,316 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,422,000 after acquiring an additional 83,916 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,824 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,447,000 after acquiring an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 130,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $19,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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