Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

YUM has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $167.00 price target (down from $174.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $180.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.78.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $156.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $134.26 and a one year high of $170.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.48.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.05. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. Yum! Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.64, for a total transaction of $41,175.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,054.48. This represents a 35.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total value of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,288 shares of company stock valued at $666,149. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $740,462,000 after purchasing an additional 4,317,526 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $279,432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets moved higher: Deutsche Bank raised its target to $171 from $167, while TD Cowen raised its target to $180 and maintained a Buy rating. Deutsche Bank price target TD Cowen rating
• Positive Sentiment: Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.56 topped analyst estimates. KFC’s international strength helped offset weakness elsewhere, with reports citing 9% international system-sales growth; Yum also reported 3% system-sales growth and 7% unit growth excluding Pizza Hut. Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Taco Bell sales are improving after the summer cyclospora outbreak. September and October trends strengthened, and loyalty members returned more quickly than other customers—potentially helping the brand’s recovery. Taco Bell loyalty and recovery
• Neutral Sentiment: Yum is expanding AI use across kitchens, drive-thrus and management, and is introducing a new KFC flagship design. These initiatives could support efficiency and customer experience over time, though near-term financial effects are unclear. Yum AI strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell’s U.S. same-store sales fell 4% in Q3 as the outbreak hurt customer traffic. Revenue was about $2.05 billion, roughly in line with some estimates but below others, tempering the earnings beat. Taco Bell Q3 sales
• Negative Sentiment: All KFC and Taco Bell locations in Puerto Rico temporarily closed after Yum ended its relationship with the local operator and seeks a new franchise partner. This disrupts sales in the market, though the scale of the financial impact was not specified. Puerto Rico restaurant closures

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company’s business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.