Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) PT Raised to $19.00

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price raised by TD Cowen from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.22.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.99 on Wednesday. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $15.61 and a 1-year high of $20.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.39 and a 200-day moving average of $17.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,993 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Wendy’s by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 199,981 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,768,000 after acquiring an additional 26,889 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 44.5% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,108 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,344,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $100,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,626 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is 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.