Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) PT Raised to $21.00 at Citigroup

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.32% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on WEN. UBS Group lifted their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.60.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $19.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $17.64 and a 12 month high of $23.90.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 62.68% and a net margin of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy’s news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 112.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 17,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.