Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Rating Lowered to “Market Perform” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $135.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $140.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on YUM. Loop Capital cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $127.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.55. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 154,104 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,675,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.