The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives $20.24 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.24.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WEN shares. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target 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.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $17.79 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.65. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $15.61 and a 12 month high of $20.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. 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 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of Wendy’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 value of $17,180,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,627,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,358 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,531 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 20,561 shares in the last quarter. 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.