Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Lowered to $155.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has lowered its price target for Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $155.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, indicating a potential upside of 9.64% from the previous close.
• Yum! Brands reported earnings per share of $1.44 for the last quarter, missing estimates of $1.46, with revenues of $1.93 billion compared to the $1.94 billion consensus.
• The company saw significant insider activity, including CEO David W. Gibbs selling over 7,000 shares, leading to a 6.47% decrease in his ownership, while institutional investors hold about 82.37% of the stock.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $155.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential upside of 9.64% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on YUM. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $167.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.32.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 1.3%

Yum! Brands stock traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $141.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,255,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,150,651. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $145.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.65. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total transaction of $1,043,352.20. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,720 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,965. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 151.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 156,690 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,657,000 after acquiring an additional 94,355 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $270,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $939,000. First National Bank Sioux Falls purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $283,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 353,103 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $55,564,000 after purchasing an additional 6,673 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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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