Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM), United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), and Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU)
Analysts are weighing in on fast-food giant Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), package delivery specialist United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS), and gaming guru Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ:GLUU). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on YUM, UPS, and GLUU.
- YUM has tacked on an impressive 13.2% over the past two months to trade at $90.02 -- and hit a record high of $94.13 on May 4 -- thanks to a well-received turn in the earnings confessional and reports that Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC took a stake in the company. The stock appears ready to add to these gains today, after J.P. Morgan Securities raised its rating to "overweight" from "neutral" and its price target to $108 from $83. Specifically, the brokerage firm said it believes Yum! Brands, Inc. has not been "defensive against activist investors' recent points, and in fact seems to welcome ideas that can drive short and long term shareholder value." Option traders have been optimistic about YUM, as well, and at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.62 ranks in the 96th annual percentile.
- Goldman Sachs boosted UPS to "buy" from "neutral," and increased its price target on the shares to $119 -- representing expected upside of 18.2% to last night's close at $100.67, and a trek into uncharted territory. On the charts, the stock has struggled beneath its 200-day moving average since gapping lower in late January on the back of weak guidance -- just one day after the shares hit an all-time peak of $114.40. In the options pits, short-term speculators are more put-heavy than usual, as evidenced by the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.93, which rests just 3 percentage points below a 52-week peak. In the front-month series -- which expires at tonight's close -- peak put open interest is found at the May 100 strike.
- GLUU saw its price target raised to $9 from $8 at Canaccord Genuity this morning. Not only does this new target sit more than 39% above Thursday's settlement at $6.47, but it represents a move to levels not seen since November 2007. Wall Street is responding well to the bullish brokerage note, with shares of GLUU up nearly 2% in electronic trading -- and ready to add to their already impressive 66% year-to-date advance. Widening the scope reveals today's upbeat analyst attention is nothing new for the stock. All but one of the eight analysts covering Glu Mobile Inc. maintain a "strong buy" rating, while the average 12-month price target of $7.74 stands at a nearly 20% premium to current trading levels.