Barclays Cuts Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target to $16.00

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Barclays from $17.00 to $16.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.31% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.10.

Wendy’s Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,533,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,586,327. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.13.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,480 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,743,000 after acquiring an additional 458,106 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,187,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 37,801 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,747,000 after acquiring an additional 43,805 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $54,287,000 after purchasing an additional 115,875 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.