Redburn Atlantic Upgrades Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) to "Buy"

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Redburn Atlantic from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $177.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock, up from their prior price target of $145.00. Redburn Atlantic's price target suggests a potential upside of 23.05% from the company's current price.

YUM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.24.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.5%

YUM stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $143.85. 2,159,855 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,015,734. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $146.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total value of $39,119.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,177.35. The trade was a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,984,484.01. The trade was a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,763 shares of company stock worth $2,637,564 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,738 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,038,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,814 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,268,000 after acquiring an additional 3,518 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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.