Morgan Stanley Reiterates Underweight Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Morgan Stanley restated their underweight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $14.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $22.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WEN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.71.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $14.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.42. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $14.13 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Wendy’s by 16.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 711,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,461,000 after buying an additional 102,769 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in Wendy’s by 98.2% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 87,254 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $357,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $13,358,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 90.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 109,747 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 52,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.