Citigroup Reiterates Neutral Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by analysts at Citigroup in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $141.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous target price of $153.00. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.23% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on YUM. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.24.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $123.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $123.19 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.84.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This trade represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock worth $2,424,167 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $419,123,000 after purchasing an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $228,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $199,511,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,243,000 after buying an additional 58,437 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.