Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $140.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $158.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 11.72% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.47.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of YUM opened at $125.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $133.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.63. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,926 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,215,000. 82.37% of the stock is 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.