The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,080,000 shares, a drop of 23.6% from the November 30th total of 13,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 5.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 94.7% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $16.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10. Wendy’s has a 52-week low of $15.61 and a 52-week high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

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.