Wendy’s Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 20,439 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 411% compared to the typical volume of 4,002 put options.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $15.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.98 and a 200-day moving average of $16.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.08.

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.