TD Cowen Maintains Hold Rating for Yum! Brands

On Thursday, TD Cowen reaffirmed its "hold" rating on Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) and established a target price of $140.00 for the shares of the famous restaurant operator. This target price suggests a potential upside of approximately 6.58% from the current stock price.

Yum! Brands, known for its popular chains such as KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, has been evaluated by various investment firms recently. For example, Argus upgraded its rating from "hold" to "buy" and set a more ambitious target price of $155.00 in a note released on December 31. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley maintained an "equal weight" rating but adjusted their target price down from $158.00 to $140.00. Additionally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from "outperform" to "market perform" and reduced their target from $140.00 to $135.00. Redburn Atlantic also changed its stance, moving from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" on November 11. On the other hand, Oppenheimer raised their target from $154.00 to $160.00 while keeping an "outperform" rating.

Market Analysis

Currently, around thirteen analysts have rated Yum! Brands with a "hold" rating, while five analysts have given it a "buy" rating. According to MarketBeat data, the consensus average rating is "Hold" with a target price averaging $144.61.

Yum! Brands Stock Overview

The stock of Yum! Brands opened at $131.35 on the day of the report. The company boasts a market capitalization of $36.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, and a P/E/G ratio of 2.14. Over the past year, the stock reached a low of $122.13 and a high of $143.20, while its fifty-day moving average is $132.35, and the two-hundred-day moving average stands at $133.67.

Yum! Brands recently reported its quarterly earnings on February 6, where it reported earnings of $1.61 per share, slightly surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.60. The company achieved a net margin of 21.13%, although it struggled with a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post earnings of $5.46 per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions

In relevant insider activity, CEO David W. Gibbs sold a total of 7,059 shares of Yum! Brands on November 15, at an average price of $135.94, resulting in a sale valued at about $959,600. Following this transaction, Gibbs maintains ownership over 149,385 shares, valued at roughly $20.3 million. This selling move represented a 4.51% decrease in his holdings. The transaction was fully disclosed following SEC regulations, with company insiders currently holding 0.31% of the stock.

Institutional Ownership Trends

Yum! Brands has recently attracted interest from various institutional investors and hedge funds. Geode Capital Management increased its stake by 1.5% in the third quarter, acquiring an additional 111,147 shares and bringing their total to approximately 7.44 million shares, valued at $1.04 billion. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp also increased its holdings by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, purchasing an additional 94,026 shares. Cantillon Capital Management showed substantial growth of 31.7% by acquiring an additional 452,339 shares in this latest quarter. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds control about 82.37% of Yum! Brands' stock.

Company Overview

Yum! Brands, Inc., along with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants on a global level. The company is divided into several divisions including KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill. Each brand specializes in different food categories such as chicken, pizza, chargrilled burgers, and Mexican-style cuisine.

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