Wendy’s’ (WEN) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WEN. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $19.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Loop Capital restated a buy rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a sell rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.76.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $16.66. 540,245 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,523,974. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.76. Wendy’s has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $22.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.15. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 62.68% and a net margin of 9.44%. The firm had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.01%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $873,717.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $537,927. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 262.4% during the 4th quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 53,794 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 145.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at $2,533,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at $1,027,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.