Yum! Brands Price Target Increased to $165.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) recently received a positive update from analysts at UBS Group, which raised its price target for the stock from $156.00 to $165.00 in a research report published on Friday. This adjustment comes with a "buy" rating, indicating analysts expect the stock to perform well moving forward. The new price target implies a potential upside of 14.70% based on the company's previous closing price.

Analyst Ratings Overview

Yum! Brands has been discussed by various other brokerage firms recently. For example, Loop Capital reduced its target price from $143.00 to $140.00 and maintained a "hold" rating. Redburn Atlantic also modified their rating, changing it from "strong-buy" to a "hold". Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating but adjusted their price target down from $158.00 to $140.00. Conversely, Oppenheimer increased their target to $160.00 while giving the stock an "outperform" rating. Currently, out of the analysts covering Yum! Brands, fourteen have a hold rating, while six have given it a buy rating. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands holds an average rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $145.95.

Current Market Performance

As for Yum! Brands' recent trading activity, shares were down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, bringing the price to $143.85. The stock experienced a trading volume of 551,308 shares, which is lower than its average of 2,076,510 shares. The 50-day moving average for Yum! Brands stands at $132.28, and the 200-day moving average is $133.72. The company's current market capitalization is approximately $40.15 billion, and it has a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85. In the past year, the stock has fluctuated, hitting a low of $122.13 and a high of $144.71.

Recent Earnings Results

Yum! Brands released its latest quarterly earnings on November 5th. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.37, which fell short of the analysts' consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.04. The total revenue for the quarter was $1.83 billion, again lower than expectations of $1.90 billion. Despite this dip in earnings, Yum! Brands achieved a net margin of 21.13%, although it reported a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Year over year, the revenue was up by 6.9%, compared to the same quarter from the previous year.

Insider Transactions

In relation to insider activities, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock on December 16th at an average price of $137.06, totaling approximately $522,883.90. After this transaction, he still holds 149,385 shares in the company, valued around $20.47 million. The trade represents a 2.49% decrease in his position and was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Institutional Investor Activity

Institutional investors have made various moves regarding Yum! Brands. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake worth about $25,000 in the fourth quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC also purchased shares, valuing around $29,000. Furthermore, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings significantly by 957.1%, now owning 222 shares valued at $31,000 after buying more shares. Overall, about 82.37% of Yum! Brands stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc. operates and franchises fast food restaurants globally. The company includes well-known brands such as KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill, which specialize in various food categories including chicken, pizza, burgers, and Mexican-style cuisine.

Yum!Brands, UBS, Stocks