Guggenheim Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Guggenheim from $155.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Guggenheim‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.56% from the stock’s current price.

YUM has been the topic of several other research reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (down from $174.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:YUM traded down $4.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $161.35. 2,373,527 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,408,670. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $134.26 and a 1-year high of $170.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $146.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.58.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 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 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total value of $39,931.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,858,454.75. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. This represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,288 shares of company stock valued at $666,149. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% in the second 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the second quarter valued at $279,432,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill brands. Its restaurants serve customers through dine-in, takeout, delivery and digital ordering channels.

The company’s brands offer a range of products, including KFC’s chicken meals, Taco Bell’s Mexican-inspired food, Pizza Hut’s pizzas and related items, and Habit Burger & Grill’s chargrilled burgers and sandwiches.