Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $174.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $156.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.95. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $137.33 and a fifty-two week high of $170.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced 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. 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $39,997.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,282 shares in the company, valued at $9,522,735.48. The trade was a 0.42% 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. Insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock worth $2,978,180 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 569,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,836 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 584,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $88,030,000 after purchasing an additional 30,075 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,264,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 19.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,140,000 after purchasing an additional 17,189 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently 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.