JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $150.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target cut by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 9.02% from the stock’s previous close.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.11.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE YUM traded down $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $137.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 194,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,145,814. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.12. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $134.26 and a 12 month high of $170.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David 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 transaction of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. This trade represents a 33.33% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,780 shares of company stock valued at $2,940,693. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth about $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $740,462,000 after purchasing an additional 4,317,526 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $638,589,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth $297,591,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants. Its portfolio includes KFC, which specializes in fried and cooked chicken; Taco Bell, known for Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which offers pizza and related products; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain focused on chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, salads, and shakes.

The company primarily uses a franchised business model, working with franchisees and licensees to operate restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories.