Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $182.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.78.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of YUM opened at $156.87 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $134.26 and a 1 year high of $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $146.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.48.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yum! Brands will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.89, for a total value of $32,990.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,980.98. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,288 shares of company stock valued at $666,149 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 valued at $740,462,000 after purchasing an additional 4,317,526 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $279,432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

More Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets moved higher: Deutsche Bank raised its target to $171 from $167, while TD Cowen raised its target to $180 and maintained a Buy rating. Deutsche Bank price target TD Cowen rating
• Positive Sentiment: Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.56 topped analyst estimates. KFC’s international strength helped offset weakness elsewhere, with reports citing 9% international system-sales growth; Yum also reported 3% system-sales growth and 7% unit growth excluding Pizza Hut. Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Taco Bell sales are improving after the summer cyclospora outbreak. September and October trends strengthened, and loyalty members returned more quickly than other customers—potentially helping the brand’s recovery. Taco Bell loyalty and recovery
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum is expanding AI use across kitchens, drive-thrus and management, and is introducing a new KFC flagship design. These initiatives could support efficiency and customer experience over time, though near-term financial effects are unclear. Yum AI strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell’s U.S. same-store sales fell 4% in Q3 as the outbreak hurt customer traffic. Revenue was about $2.05 billion, roughly in line with some estimates but below others, tempering the earnings beat. Taco Bell Q3 sales
• Negative Sentiment: All KFC and Taco Bell locations in Puerto Rico temporarily closed after Yum ended its relationship with the local operator and seeks a new franchise partner. This disrupts sales in the market, though the scale of the financial impact was not specified. Puerto Rico restaurant closures

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company’s business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.