Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives Hold Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen restated their hold rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Wendy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Wendy’s from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $22.47.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $18.85 on Wednesday. Wendy’s has a fifty-two week low of $17.64 and a fifty-two week high of $23.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.05.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $540.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.47 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 56.24%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 102.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 20.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,993 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 546,084 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,638,000 after acquiring an additional 96,571 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

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.