Citigroup Raises Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target to $16.50

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $15.50 to $16.50 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WEN has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $15.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.06 and a 200-day moving average of $16.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,480 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 3,249.7% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,527 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 296.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,503 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,678,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,358,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

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.