Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives Hold Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen reiterated their hold rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a $19.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Wendy’s from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Wendy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.60.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.17 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.05. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $17.64 and a 12-month high of $23.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 62.68% and a net margin of 9.44%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towerview LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $518,000. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Wendy’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $706,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Wendy’s by 1.2% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 144,353 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 243.3% during the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 255,069 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after acquiring an additional 180,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.