Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Upgraded by Robert W. Baird to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was upgraded by Robert W. Baird to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $156.55 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $137.33 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The company has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $153.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.95.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total transaction of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,735.48. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 277 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $44,436.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 483 shares in the company, valued at $77,482.86. This represents a 36.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 107.5% during the first 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.