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

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target upped by analysts at Oppenheimer from $154.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 25.27% from the company’s current price.

YUM has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.78.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $127.72 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $124.76 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $135.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 17,879 shares of company stock valued at $2,424,167 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 23,148 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,066,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $712,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 80.6% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 19,737.5% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 81.3% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.