Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Increases Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $147.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $143.00 to $147.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on YUM. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

YUM traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,307,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,409. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $115.53 and a 52 week high of $143.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.12.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total value of $848,151.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yum! Brands news, insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,275,158.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,089 shares of company stock worth $3,693,505 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 38,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,129,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $762,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 112,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,932,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.