Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Lowered to Market Perform Rating by Sanford C. Bernstein

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $135.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous target price of $140.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.45% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on YUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $125.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $133.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.63. The stock has a market cap of $35.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 5,077.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 182,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,445,000 after acquiring an additional 178,612 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 14,151.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 148,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 147,180 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after purchasing an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 80.9% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 156,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,865,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.