The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives $19.71 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.71.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $14.61 on Friday. Wendy’s has a 52-week low of $13.98 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.35.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 84,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,903 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $350,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 123,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 22,250 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 9,435 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 17,963 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by 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.