Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Upgraded to “Buy” at Gordon Haskett

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was upgraded by Gordon Haskett from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $179.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.15.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE YUM opened at $150.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.73 and a 200 day moving average of $147.83. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 17.95% and a negative return on equity of 21.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 276 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $42,274.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 2,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.48, for a total transaction of $419,839.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,292. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 30,695 shares of company stock valued at $4,582,843 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $602,551,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $133,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $126,945,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,789,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,382,000 after purchasing an additional 713,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 115.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,311,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $197,013,000 after buying an additional 703,891 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.