Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $19.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.30.

Wendy’s Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of WEN traded up $0.77 on Thursday, reaching $19.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,158,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,506,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.71.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.