Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given “Hold” Rating at Argus

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by equities researchers at Argus in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.67.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9%

YUM stock opened at $141.03 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.55. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $134.26 and a twelve month high of $170.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.58.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total transaction of $39,972.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,766,528.65. This represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock worth $2,940,693. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,768,000 after acquiring an additional 4,760 shares in the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $248,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 114.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 53,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 28,380 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.2% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in Yum! Brands by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 470,206 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $75,167,000 after acquiring an additional 18,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, which offer products such as fried and grilled chicken, tacos and other Mexican-inspired foods, pizza, burgers and related menu items.

The company’s restaurants serve customers through a combination of company-operated locations and franchised and licensed outlets. Yum! Brands supports its restaurant concepts with brand management, franchise services, technology and digital ordering capabilities, while franchisees generally manage day-to-day restaurant operations.

Yum! Brands serves customers in numerous markets worldwide, with a significant presence in the United States and international markets across regions including Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.