Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Sanford C. Bernstein

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $135.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price target of $140.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.24% from the stock’s current price.

YUM has been the topic of several other reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $127.07 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.55.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.