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

Posted by Francis Steltz on Nov 4th, 2026

Zacks Research cut shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Gordon Haskett decreased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $182.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $184.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.78.

View Our Latest Report on Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $156.87 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $146.29 and a 200 day moving average of $153.48. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $134.26 and a 12 month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 25.42% and a negative return on equity of 24.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 37.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.89, for a total transaction of $32,990.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,980.98. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher Turner sold 285 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total transaction of $39,931.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,858,454.75. This represents a 0.45% 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 three months, insiders sold 4,288 shares of company stock valued at $666,149. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at $4,186,811,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1,373.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,631,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $740,462,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317,526 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $638,589,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $297,591,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in 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

Yum! Brands Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.