Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Posted by Geri Gentry on Aug 26th, 2026

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

YUM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Argus lowered their price target on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered Yum! Brands from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Yum! Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.65.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock opened at $156.55 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 52-week low of $137.33 and a 52-week high of $170.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,494 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 3 shares in the company, valued at $474. The trade was a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders have sold 19,043 shares of company stock valued at $2,978,180. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter valued at $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Yum! Brands

(Get Free Report)

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.