Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $140.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $158.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.47.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $125.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.63. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 111,147 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $228,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $116,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by 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.