Loop Capital Has Lowered Expectations for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price cut by Loop Capital from $143.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Loop Capital’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.58% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $133.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,318,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,939,764. The company has a market cap of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $123.60 and a one year high of $143.20. The business’s 50-day moving average is $134.26 and its 200-day moving average is $134.81.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly 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). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 21.96%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 1,309 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.40, for a total value of $179,856.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $169,414.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total transaction of $941,682.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,622 shares of company stock worth $4,172,740 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,012,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,022,648,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607,517 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Yum! Brands by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,121,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,512,561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470,883 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $200,668,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 10.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,669,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,033,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 36.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,174,526 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,498,000 after buying an additional 582,267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

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.